Devatma
by woozyn
Summary: Vixen's protege, Virago, was kept from joining the rest of the "sidekicks" on Independence day because she felt like her trainee wasn't ready. However, one day she unexpectedly zeta'd to the cave and joined the team. Being on a team with teen heroes like her showed her the true meaning of friendship, teamwork, acceptance and what it's like to be loved. Kaldur/OC
1. Prologue

**'Ello everyone! I am brand new to and writing in general, so please bear with me as this is my first story. I absolutely love Young Justice and hopefully there will be a season three~ and I hope you all enjoy. Please, don't forget to leave any type feedback/criticism, I know it'll really help!  
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𝒫𝓇𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝓊𝑒 – **_Virago  
_** "I'll keep you safe.  
Try hard to concentrate,  
hold out your hand.  
Can you feel the weight of it?  
The whole world at your fingertips.  
Don't be, don't be afraid.  
Our mistakes they were bound to be made,  
but I promise you I'll keep you safe."

 **DETROIT  
NOVEMBER 10, 2000  
19:43 EDT**

Vixen was practically annoyed at this point. So what if a six-year-old stole the Devatma totem? She had no idea what she was doing. She was just a _child_. She had no idea what it was or what power it possessed.

From what the security cameras showed, the little girl, whose name Vixen learned to be Calypso, was in the museum with her family and saw a charming necklace on the floor and picked it up. She wasn't able to hear the audio but when Calypso had shown her father the piece of jewelry, he simply shrugged her off and made a gesture with his hand that probably meant 'put that back' but the little girl didn't listen.

Calypso stuck her tongue out at her father and wrapped the totem around her wrist, making it a bracelet instead.

"I am _so_ sorry," her father, Jackson she remembered, said yet again after the last police car drove away. He glared at his daughter who was slumped down in a chair in the kitchen as her mother, Hyojin, lectured her. "I thought I told her to put it back."

The female hero dressed in orange and black resisted the urge to roll her eyes and attempted to remain as civil as possible. "Look, there's no harm done sir." She looked back at Calypso who was now crying, causing her to frown. "Hey… she hasn't done anything wrong sir. I think you're being too harsh-"

" _Excuse me_?" Jackson exclaimed, acting as if she just offended his whole entire family. "Since when do you know _anything_ about parenting?"

Vixen raised up her hands in defense. "Woah, hey, I didn't mean-"

"Do you have any idea what it's like to raise a child?"

"No. But I do know that lecturing a five-"

"Six." Jackson corrected, crossing his arms. "It's her birthday today."

The hero's eyes widened in shock. " _Her_ birthday? Sir, I understand that what she did was wrong but it's not like she stole millions of dollars or almost killed a town of people." He didn't respond and his eyes never softened. "You shouldn't treat your daughter like this. She is so young-"

"And that justifies what she did?" Hyojin entered the living room with the same glaring gaze as her husband. Vixen watched as Calypso ran upstairs, sobs still escaping her mouth.

She sighed and placed the Devatma totem in her pocket. "Your daughter will not be charged with allegations of stolen museum property and I am sorry for any inconvenience this has brought you."

 _Crash!_

Vixen looked upstairs to where she heard the sudden noise. Hyojin rushed to the stairs and just before she was about to walk up them, a voice shouted, "Sorry guys! I dropped my cup!"

"Oh," the mother exhaled in relief at her oldest child's voice. "It's alright Athena. Just make sure to clean up the glass."

The hero's eyes widened once more. Why was it they were hard on the youngest daughter but not on their eldest? From what she saw, there was only a two year age difference; both _were_ very young.

Her eyes scanned the walls and noticed pictures of the family. There was two children, Athena she assumed, and another boy who she guessed was Athena's twin. Both of them had trophies with their names on them. She read the caption on the picture frame.

 _Athena & Percy at 1st Award Ceremony!_

All along the walls were pictures of the twins and their accomplishments but _none_ of Calypso.

Vixen looked between Hyojin and Jackson with disgust and horror. How could someone treat their _own_ daughter that way?

She understood there were bad children in the world but looking at young Calypso, she knew there was no bad in her. All she was innocence and playfulness and curiosity.

As her eyes scanned the room once more she noticed a trashcan with pieces of crumbled up paper next to it. She walked over to it and picked up one of the pieces, smoothing it out as she did.

It was a drawing of a family with Korean writing at the top. She had no clue what it said but there was a heart around it. In the corner was Calypso's name written in purple marker.

"Excuse me?" Jackson said, confused at why the hero was still in his home. "What are you doing?"

Vixen picked up another crumbled up paper and opened it up. This time, the drawing was also Calypso's and it was of dog and cat with a question mark above both. More Korean writing was down at the bottom and she guessed it meant something along the lines of asking for a pet. But, in response, her parents must've thrown it away.

Hyojin snatched the drawings out of Vixen's hands. "You have _no_ right to be going through our things, even if it is trash."

"Just because you're a member of the Justice League, doesn't give you special clearance to-"

The hero interrupted Jackson, "I can't believe you assholes! You threw away your _own_ daughter's drawings and you don't even seem to appreciate her! What kind of parents are you?" she spat.

"You are stepping over the line-"

"No, _I am_ a hero." Vixen stated firmly. "I don't just fight criminals and save the world, I save people too and your daughter _clearly_ needs to be saved from you two. Do you even love her?"

Hyojin yelled in annoyance. " _Yah!_ Do you have _any idea_ what it's like to raise a child who clearly shows no academic excellence? Or even excellence in sports? Calypso is, and will not be, successful."

"She's _SIX_!" the female hero said angrily. She understood that the family was Korean and had no clue about their customs or culture but she knew that whatever standards they held, it was unfair. Especially for a young child.

"So what?" Jackson replied. "That's how we were raised and how we have raised our children. Look how well Athena and Percy turned out." He referred to the countless pictures of the twins on the walls. "We raised them the same way we've raised Calypso and she's turned out to be an average, art loving disappointment."

Vixen punched a hole in the wall. " _She's your child!_ " she screamed, glaring daggers at the parents. "I should report you for child neglect."

The two exchanged looks with each other, silent. Jackson stepped forward and gestured to the door. "Get _out_ of our home. _Now_."

Hyojin went to her husband's side and shoke her head at Vixen. "You've over stayed your welcome, _Vixen_."

The hero removed her hand from the wall and stood tall. She slipped one of the drawings into her pocket, the couple not noticing, and left the house, the door slamming behind her.

As she walked off the property, she touched the totem around her neck and felt the power and speed of the Peregrine falcon wash over her. She flew up into the sky and looked over her shoulder to the Korean home.

 _This is wrong,_ she thought to herself.

She flew into her apartment and grabbed the nearest telephone book, using her new speed and senses to scan through it. She found a child service's company and left an anonymous call about someone being under some form of child neglect and abuse at the home where she just was and she hoped Calypso would be taken away from that horrible family and be put where she would be loved and appreciated.

Over the next week, she kept an eye on the family, waiting for child services to arrive at the home. Once they finally did, she watched in triumph as Calypso was carried away from her family and placed into a car with her belongings.

She could care less at what happened to the parents but from the amount of cries and protests that left their mouths, she knew they were in deep shit.

Vixen found out that Calypso was placed into an adoption agency and she kept a close eye on her for a few more weeks.

Then, after much deep thought and conversations with her own family, she finally convinced herself to adopt Calypso.

 **DETROIT  
NOVEMBER 10, 2004  
14:04 EDT**

"What's this?" Calypso questioned, pointing to the small box wrapped in black and white polka dot wrapping paper.

Mari closed the door after the last guest left the apartment. "Open it." She responded, taking a sip of her water.

The young girl enthusiastically ripped opened the present and her eyes widened. Inside was the same bracelet she stole on her sixth birthday. A confused look spread across her face. "How did you-" she looked behind her and noticed that Mari was now dressed in an orange and black uniform.

Caly gasped. "Y-you're Vixen? No way! That's _so_ cool!" she looked back at the totem. It was the symbol of a bear. "And… you want me to be your sidekick?"

"Protégé." Her guardian corrected. "I feel bad for leaving you alone at home a lot and I want to be a part of your life as much as possible. I am not, and will never be, like your actual parents."

Calypso frowned, glancing down at the ground as she remembered her old family. She only kept in contact with her siblings, considering they never did anything wrong to her. They tried inviting her over to the home but she always rejected their request. She never wanted to go back there.

Vixen rushed over to her and hugged her tightly, stroking her hair. "You're my daughter now," she continued. "And my protégé if you want to be. It won't be easy. I'll have to teach you how to use the totem and control the powers and-"

As she continued talking, Calypso pulled away from her and picked up the totem. She wrapped it around her wrist and turned around. "I'm ready Mari. This is going to be the best mother-daughter bonding I've ever had."

 **THREE YEARS LATER**

Calypso pressed play on the stereo before tightening the totem around her wrist. She approached the middle of the room and picked up a bō-staff. Mari taught her to change between a weapon and her powers, just in case if something ever happened to the totem.

 _"While listening to this song take it easy."_

Mari sat back with one of the owners of the gym who had a room specially made for fast paced training. He pressed a button and a dozen mannequins popped up from the floor, each of them having targets on their bodies. Five of them were broader and thicker than the others and they moved, meaning they'd be more difficult to take down but she had faith in her daughter.

 _"Don't dance or make noise at all. Please don't march or scream and please refrain from any erratic behavior."_

Caly cracked her knuckles and neck, twirling the staff around in her hands before touching the totem. Her dark brown eyes glowed a bright orange and she felt the speed and ferocity of a cheetah consume her.

 _"Never mind, go crazy."_

She sprung into the air and kicked off the dummy's head before allowing her foot to rest on the face of another dummy. In seconds, she flipped off, swinging her staff around in a circle, knocking down four more.

As she landed gracefully on her feet, she jabbed her elbow into a mannequin's head and before it popped off, she used her speed to lock her ankles around another one and broke off its head.

She put her weapon behind her and touched the totem again, feeling the strength and power of the grizzly bear flow through her veins.

One by one, they began charging at her and with a battle cry, she ran forward and threw punches into the dummy's stomach before being pushed off by another one.

The dark haired girl moved out of the way, swiping one of them off of their "feet" with ease. She jumped back on her feet. Suddenly, "arms" appeared from the mannequin, and shot towards her.

Her eyes widened and she jumped back in time before she was caught. She looked up at Mari in shock. "What was that?"

The young woman shrugged with a chuckle. "Something new that Luke wanted to test out." Luke smiled proudly. "It helps make the training more realistic."

The arms started moving back and forth and then up and down. Caly guessed Luke was trying to make the dummy seem like it was "fighting" her.

She smiled and raised up her hands into a fighting stance. As soon as one of its arms swung down, she blocked it with her arm and tried hitting the dummy's other arm but it was very sturdy and solid.

Calypso continued that process, occasionally ducking and hitting and blocking from both arms, hoping that whatever battery was powering the mannequins would get tired but it wasn't slowing down yet.

Suddenly she was backed against the wall and the dummies weren't powering down anytime soon. She bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet, quickly devising a plan in her mind.

Right as it reached her, she touched the totem, feeling the speed and strength of the lion surge through her. She flipped over it and just as she turned around, the song ended and she heard the familiar ringtone of her phone.

The girl gasped. "Zoe-"

Apparently the mannequins were intelligent because one of them twirled around and its hands knocked her down.

Mari and Luke exchanged looks before he turned off the dummies. She crossed her arms, shaking her head in disappointment and from her spot in the gym, Calypso could tell.

She took off the totem, feeling the animal instinct of the lion leave her. Her guardian approached her and she couldn't read anything else from her except disappointment.

"Mar…" she sighed, "I'm-"

Her mentor picked her up into a hug and swung her around, causing her to laugh. "I'm not mad at you Caly." She placed her daughter safely on the ground. "You did great and I'm not going to get mad at you because of one screw-up and besides, it's your birthday." The dark haired girl smiled in delight. "Although some pointers, you don't need to flip around so much like an acrobat. You have the ability to have strength and ferocity."

Mari touched her own totem, feeling the force and brutality of the African Elephant engulf her. She approached the once power mannequin and ripped off it's top with ease and threw it across the room, taking out another one in the process.

Calypso's mouth opened in shock. _She's so cool_ , she thought, glad that Mari was her mentor as well as her guardian.

She understood that she could be strong and powerful but she enjoyed being light and off her feet while delivering intense hits to the enemy.

Her mentor walked back over to her, tossing the young girl her phone. "And I know you're not this easily distracted but when you're training, leave your phone in the car."

The dark haired girl blushed in embarrassment. "Heh... right, sorry Mari."

Mari brought her into a headlock and ruffled her hair, causing her to groan. "C'mon, go shower and change. I'm pretty sure Zoe and her mom are outside."

"We're going to the mall aren't we?" Caly asked with a smirk, raising her eyebrow.

Her guardian narrowed her eyes. She didn't tell her daughter what she was planning for her birthday and she made Caly's best friend, Zoe, swear to secrecy that she wouldn't say anything. But Caly always did this. She would magically always find out what they were doing on special occasions, what her Christmas presents were without even picking up the boxes, and what food she brought back home for dinner without even looking at the logo on the bag.

"What?" her daughter raised up her arms in innocence, a smirk creeping onto her face.

"Shut up."

"But I didn't-"

"Do you want to go buy your birthday presents or not?"

" _Ooooh~_ so there's multiple?"

"Shut up Calypso."

"Yes ma'am."


	2. Another Rejected Sidekick

**anon:** uuuuhhhh I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about.  
 **Guest:** aw, thank you so much! ^.^ Kaldur has always been my favorite character because, c'mon, he's so badass! And I chose Vixen as my OC's mentor because she's a hero I haven't seen before in any YJ fanfics.

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thank you all so much for 9 follows and 8 favorites! And I do apologize for this being so** _ **so**_ **so late, school's been very stressful and I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues lately.  
**

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𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒪𝓃𝑒 – **Another Rejected Sidekick  
** "Who, who are you really?  
And where, where are you going?  
I've got nothing left to prove,  
'cause I've got nothing left to lose.  
See me bare my teeth for you.  
Who, who are you?"

 **DETROIT  
JULY 4, 12:01 EDT  
PRESENT DAY**

" _Aish_ Zoe… I'm not sure about this one-"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Calypso will you just trust your best friend and come out?"

I sighed, biting my lip. The confidence I had built up before walking into the store suddenly disappeared as soon as I started trying on clothes.

I walked out of the changing room, balling up my fists in nervousness. My best friend held her smile before forcing me to turn around towards the mirror, wrapping her arm around my middle. "There, see? You're like.. a chubby, little Korean panda."

"Is that a good thing?" I asked in confusion, raising my eyebrow.

"You realize that pandas are the cutest animals on earth right?" Zoe said, but I was still frowning at my appearance. " _Caaaly_ , you look beautiful, okay? Just because you have chubby cheeks, a tummy, and thicker thighs than most girls in our class, that doesn't make you any less attractive. Besides," she tugged on my dark hair, "you're the only girl I know that can rock short hair like that."

I giggled, smiling at her. "Thanks Zoe. It's just, I'm turning sixteen soon and.. y'know.. I wanna be like most girls and have a boyfriend. You've had one Z."

"Which was a terrible mistake." She pointed out. "I know how you feel Caly, I really do. I'm still thoroughly confused at why someone hasn't asked you out yet but maybe something's keeping you from being in shit relationships and making sure your heart is being saved for the one."

"Ah, young love." We turned around to see an employee at the store approaching us. "Why is it young girls are obsessed with love or the ideas of love?"

I shrugged. "Well, in my case, it's uh… complicated."

Zoe smiled, looking off into the distance dreamily. "I just want someone to sneak into my room at night to cuddle with me."

"Oh don't we all darlin'?" the employee responded with a laugh, causing us all to laugh. "I just came over to see if you wanted me to ring up those clothes before my shift ended."

I nodded. "Sure, I've gotta be back home anyway." I went back into the changing room and took off the clothes and changed into my regular skinny jeans and sweater.

The employee gave us a "Fourth of July" discount and wrote down on the back of the receipt, _'Don't try looking for love because usually love will find you_ ' with a heart.

"Thanks for today Zoe." I said.

"Anything for my best friend." She responded with a smile. "Besides, I'd rather be here at the mall with you then be at home with a whole bunch of family for their "fourth of July family reunion'."

I laughed and she continued, "Seeing annoying cousins, crazy aunts, drunken uncles, ugh it's terrible."

We took the buses back home, planning out another day to hang out but I told her I wasn't sure. Zoe didn't know about my secret because Mari said that if any villains or enemies of ours found out, they'd target her and I don't want that to _ever_ happen. But, at the moment, I wasn't worried about that because…

 _Today is the day!_

Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad were other teen protégés like me and they were offered to join the League. Vixen wasn't exactly an _active_ member of a League but she was more of a charter member.

A while back she used to be a part of the Suicide Squad but she won't tell me the full story of what happened but her past doesn't matter to me. She's a better person now and that's all that matters.

I had told her about the rest of the "sidekicks" joining the League and all she said was, "Maybe," but whenever I tried to talk about it, she never responded. Hopefully since today is _the_ day she finally gives me an answer.

I changed into my uniform that was similar to Vixen's except instead of fully covered gloves, mine were fingerless and went up to my shoulders.

I wrapped the Devatma totem around my wrist, placed on my black domino mask, and made my way up to the top of the apartment building. Vixen was already waiting and I couldn't read her expression.

"Are we still going to the Hall?" I questioned and she sighed.

"Virago…" she took a deep breath like she was hesitating on what she was about to say. "You're not ready."

My eyes widened in shock. " _What?!_ Vixen, please-"

"I heard what you said at the mall today, about you being insecure of your looks and how you want to be in a relationship and if you're going to be a part of the League… you don't have much of an ordinary life anymore. All of that will disappear."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, _I never_ asked you if I could be your protégé. _You_ offered me." I said, anger starting to boil up in my veins. "And I've been training with you for three years and I've been your protégé for two almost three years. You have put me through _so much_ pain and struggle and I'm not going to throw that all away just because _you think_ I'm not ready."

Vixen growled, "You're still a child!You're not ready to fight alongside the League." I huffed in annoyance, turning away from her. "You think us fighting muggers and saving a convenient store from getting robbed is what they do all day?"

I crossed my arms, looking down at my boots. " _Aniyo_ …"

"Exactly."

"Well, if you'd let me go on those types of missions with you maybe I'd be ready-"

"No." Vixen interrupted, shaking her head. "Absolutely not."

I groaned, wanting to burst from all the irritation and anger but I, surprisingly, keep myself calm. "Then what was even the point of training me huh? If you're not going to let me be a serious hero then-"

"You are _not_ a hero. You are a _sidekick_."

I gasped, looking up at her in astonishment. I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes as her words started echoing in my mind.

She realized what she had said and her eyes softened but she didn't say anything. I guessed she wasn't sure what to say.

I took off my mask and threw it on the ground in front of her. " _Wah…_ I can't believe you said that."

"Caly-" she tried to place her hand on my shoulder, but I swatted it off.

" _No_ Mari. No." I interrupted firmly. "When you came to me on my birthday, you said you wanted me to be your protégé so we could have more mother-daughter time and I thought when we went on patrol and trained together, you saw me as your equal or at least as your partner, not as someone below you… not a _sidekick_." My guardian was silent as she took in my words. "I thought you had more respect for me. In two more years, I'll be an adult Mari and you can't baby me anymore." I wiped a tear away from my eye. "But I honestly thought you had more respect for me to _at least_ give me a chance to go with the rest of the protégés. I guess I was wrong."

As I was leaving, she called out to me, saying she wanted to talk about it but I didn't listen. I was _so_ angry and upset that my body was shaking. How _dare_ she say I'm not ready? She's the fucking one who trained me!

All this time, I thought she saw me as her partner considering I was her daughter and protégé but all she saw me as was a _sidekick_.

Honestly, it hurt me. It _really_ did. I don't think I'd be able to work alongside her again until she saw me not as a sidekick.

I was also very confused. Mari was the one who suggested I become her protégé and she loved helping me train. So why was she so against me progressing as a hero?

If she was really worried about me longer having a 'life' then she shouldn't have asked me to be her partner.

Did she believe that I was too weak or innocent to bring me along on dangerous missions? Just because I'm insecure doesn't mean I won't be less powerful. Yeah, sure, I've had doubts on whether I'd be able to protect myself or not, but it never stopped me. I managed.

I angrily took off my uniform, throwing it somewhere across my room. I slammed my door behind me and I was glad I didn't break it. Believe me, I wanted to but that would mean I would have to explain to Mari what happened and I don't want to see her.

For the rest of the evening, Mari and I didn't say a single word to each other and I was genuinely glad because I needed time away from her for as long as possible.

 **DETROIT  
JULY 18, 10:22**

I was still mad at my mentor, trust me, but I wasn't going to let my anger get the best of me. If Detroit citizens needed help – they always do – then I'll do my best to help them, not letting my angsty teen emotions get in the way.

Throughout the last two weeks, Mari tried speaking to me about what happened but whenever I asked if she changed her mind about letting me join the rest of the protégés she always brought up what actually happened on Independence day.

Apparently, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash, people I've never met before but seen on TV, hacked into the Justice League and investigated a fire at some creepy science lab called Cadmus. They also rescued Superman's clone, Superboy. I tried asking her what happened after that, but she shrugged it off, telling me to pay attention to patrol.

At the moment, I was sitting on a building's ledge, watching for any early morning crime but like always, there was never really any.

Just as I was about to leap to another building to get a better vantage point, there was a loud crash then an explosion, followed by ear-piercing screams.

I exchanged looks with Vixen before we rushed towards the loud noise. Below the building we were now on, there was a group of bulky men, and a few women, threatening people around them with guns and baseball bats.

 _Business as usual,_ I thought, getting ready to jump down until my mentor shot out her hand, stopping me. I gave her a confused look before she pointed towards the men.

One of them had pointed a gun towards a store window and instead of bullets, ice shot out, breaking the glass. Were they some kind of meta humans or thugs that got their hands on the wrong technology?

As I was about to touch my Devatma totem, preparing to fight them, Vixen pushed me back, off the ledge. "No, you're not fighting these guys."

I rolled my eyes with a sigh. " _Yah, jinja?_ Are you seriously going to bring the 'I'm not ready' thing back up again?"

Vixen stood straight up, narrowing her eyes at me and never have I ever before seen such anger and annoyance and then fear, which confused me. "You are _NOT_ ready." She stated firmly, her voice loud but she wasn't exactly yelling at me. "We are not talking about this again. You are trained to fight people with inhuman abilities-"

"Even though I have a special bracelet that gives me the abilities of the entire animal kingdom which gives me inhuman abilities…" I interrupted and she growled and before she could protest against me fighting beside her, like a _protégé_ should, I touched the Devatma totem and felt the flight of a simple falcon surge through me.

I flew away from my mentor and once I was far away enough, I yelled up at the sky in frustration. I jumped down into an alley and without thinking, punched a large metal dumpster, causing it crash into a telephone box and the doors automatically opened.

I raised my eyebrow curiously, slowly stepping towards it, my fingertips brushing against the large dent I had imprinted on the dumpster. I entered the box, noting that it seemed pretty normal; it wasn't a Tardis and there was no Doctor Who.

Just as I was about to leave, a beam of light shot out, as if it was scanning me. _"Recognized, Virago, B-06."_

A bright light consumed my vision, causing me to close my eyes and I felt the telephone box disappear around me. I tried moving around and lost my balance, falling onto very heard floor.

"Ow," I winced opening my eyes, looking around. I opened my mouth in shock when I saw who was in front of me. "No way. Robin? Aqualad? _Kid Flash?!_ And – female Martian Manhunter?"


	3. Welcome to Happy Harbor

**SnowWolf22:** _OHMIGOSH!_ Thank you so much c: I'm such a big fan of your stories and I adore your OC's~ Also your drawings are superb! You're so talented~  
 **luz nocturna:** Okie dokie~  
 **Lil Miss Sunshine14:** thank you, I really appreciate it! Since Calypso is Korean, I picture her as someone with a mix between Lee Halla and Arden Cho but someone not as small and thin because Caly is a bit on the plus side. She also has a bob haircut which is different from Arden and Halla. She is toned but not all muscly like a body builder. Hopefully that helps~ ^.^

 **Thank you all so much for 14 favorites and 15 follows! It really means a lot to me c:  
**

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𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑜: **Welcome to Happy Harbor  
** "I ain't afraid of the pressure when it comes on stronger.  
'Cause I'm always pushing through,  
I'm always going harder.  
When everyone is through,  
I'll be here longer.  
Cause I'm a hustler, yeah I'm a hustler.  
Cause I'm a hustler, yeah I'm a hustler."

 _"Ow," I winced opening my eyes, looking around. I opened my mouth in shock when I saw who was in front of me. "No way. Robin? Aqualad?_ _Kid Flash?!_ _And – female Martian Manhunter?"_

The Martian in question smiled sheepishly at me and waved. "Miss Martian, actually."

"So you're Virago?" Kid Flash asked as Aqualad held out his hand, helping me off the floor. I noticed he was very polite.

I nodded at the speedster. "Yup, the one and only."

"What made Vixen change her mind?" Robin, I think, questioned. All of protégés were in casual clothes, except me, but he was wearing sunglasses. I'm guessing he _really_ didn't want anyone knowing his secret I.D.

"Um," I bit my lip, trying not to panic and make it look like I was lying, "y-yeah, she did. Definitely. I can join your team." _Vixen is totally gonna kill me later._

"Welcome to the team. I am Aqualad but we are off duty, so call me Kaldur." The Atlantean said warmly.

I smiled at the teens in front of me. "I'm Virago, but you guys already _knew_ that, heh," I rubbed the back of my head embarrassed, "my real name's Calypso." My eyes drifted to Superman's clone who hadn't spoken a word yet. He looked like a teen version of the man of Steel. I wonder why Cadmus would want to create a clone of him?

Miss Martian flew in front of me and grinned. "I'm so glad to have another girl on the team. I'm M'gann M'orzz, but you can call me Megan."

My eyes widened. "Wait, it's just you?" I looked around the room for any other girl heroes but it was just the Martian.

" _You_ and me," she corrects, looping her arm through mine. "This is going to be great!"

I giggled at her enthusiasm and happiness. I knew we were going to get along quite well.

The ginger speedster flashed a flirtatious smile at both of us, slicking his hair back. "I'm Kid Flash, but you, beautiful, can call me Wally." He winked, causing me to roll my eyes. Robin elbowed his ribs, and introduced himself as well.

"Superboy." The clone informed. I guessed he wasn't much of a talker but I was glad he _at least_ said who he was. I bet if I called him a clone he'd beat me to a pulp.

"You are just in time Calypso. We are taking a tour of the Cave." Kaldur explained.

M'gann spoke with an excited smile, "I was actually going to show you guys something."

I put my thumbs up. "Awesome. What is it?"

"Follow me!" she flew ahead of the five of us into another portion of the Cave. This place was _huuuge!_ Kaldur, Wally and Robin, with Superboy being awfully quiet, explained that the Cave had a kitchen, bedrooms, showers, a huge training area – which is where I landed – and Zeta tubes. They also had to explain to me what Zeta tubes where considering I had never _seen_ or _used_ one before until today.

"Wait, wait, wait... you're telling me Vixen kept you in the dark about _everything_?" Wally asked exasperated, his eyes widening.

I sighed, nodding. "Yeah, she did. I guess she believes I wouldn't be able to 'handle' it." I made quotation marks with my fingers.

"You're not the only one who's underestimated." I looked over to the clone who spoke up. I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

"A few weeks ago, all of us believed we were joining the Justice League." Kaldur said.

" _Buuut_ , apparently, we weren't ready either." Wally added in an annoyed tone. "That's why the Boy Wonder here," he gestured to Robin, "hacked into the Justice League's super computer."

"Long story short, we went to Cadmus, rescued Superboy, got chewed out by the League, and now we're waiting for Batman to give us a mission." Robin explained.

I had no idea that they were treated like I was too. Why does _everyone_ think we aren't ready? All of us are powerful on our own! The fact that not only Vixen, but the League, was treating all of us like children made me even more irritated. Hopefully all of us together, as a Team, can prove to the League that we _are_ ready.

Once we reached M'gann, I was confused at what she was standing in front of. It looked like a red round ball of Play-Doh with black stripes around it.

"It's my Martian Bioship!" she announced proudly.

"Cute. Not aerodynamic," Wally pointed out, "but cute."

She giggled, "It's at rest, silly. I'll wake it."

With a wave of her hand, the ball transformed into a large ship, causing my eyes to widen in amazement. With another wave, it spun around and an entrance was created. I had no idea that Martians could do that!

"Well, are you coming?"

" _Wah_ , that was _so_ cool!" I exclaimed, causing M'gann to blush. I was the first one to rush onto the ship and I felt like a little kid. The rest of the teens followed after me with Miss Martian leading the way. Once we were all aboard, seats suddenly shot up from the floor, one for each of us.

"Strap in for launch." She said and I noticed Wally and Robin exchange grins. I hopped into the seat in front of M'gann and instantly a safety belt went across my body. The boys were all in amazement as well. "Red Tornado, please open the bay doors."

"Red Tornado is here?" I questioned. I didn't know much about the hero except that he was a League member and an android.

"Yup." Robin said, popping the 'p'. "He's our 'babysitter.'"

I looked out in front of me and saw the pretty blue water and the bright sun. Today is a perfect day to go to the beach or do anything outside. As soon as the Bioship left the Cave, I heard the Boy Wonder comment, "Incredible."

Wally sighed dreamily and when I looked over my shoulder, I noticed he was dreamily staring at M'gann. "She sure is." Ahhh, so he's the ladies man. "I-I mean the ship, Which, like all ships, is a she."

"Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth." Robin said with a laugh, causing me to giggle.

" _Dude!_ "

M'gann looked over at Superboy and sighed sadly. The younger Bat tried to cheer her up, "He'll come around."

"He doesn't seem to like me much…" she said gloomily in a hushed tone, her sudden happy and excited mood gone. I looked between Wally and Robin, wondering what she meant and I didn't want to ask because I didn't want to ruin her mood even more. Robin mouthed 'later' and I nodded.

"You guys remember he has super hearing, right?" Wally reminded and I looked over to Superboy. I was expecting him to turn around or say something but instead, he stayed quiet.

I turned around in the chair completely, smiling at the Martian, "So what other super cool things can you do?"

"Yeah," Robin agreed, "how 'bout showing us a little Martian shape-shifting?"

She sent a small smile towards the both of us before standing up. Suddenly, her eyes began to glow. Starting from the bottom of her feet, she started morphing into Robin, but it was very _feminine_ , if you catch my drift. Then she spun around, shifting into the ginger speedster, posing as well.

Wally was practically ogling her – _err_ , him, and drooling at this point. "Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?"

"Impressive, but you know you're not exactly gonna fool anyone with those." The Boy Wonder pointed out.

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder." She replied with a nod. "But I can do Calyspo."

The Martian turned towards me and morphed into, well, _me_. It was like I was staring into a mirror and it was _so_ awesome but freaky at the same time. " _Daebak~_ "

" _Daebak~_ " M'gann mimicked and I blinked in shock. She is literally the most _awesome_ person I have ever met.

"Your clothes?" Aqualad said in amazement, looking over at the Martian as she shifted into herself again.

"And your voice?"

"My clothes are organic, like the ship." She explained, tugging at her pink jacket, "They respond to my mental commands. And I can shift and alter my voice to whatever I want it to be."

"As long as they're the only ones." Superboy grumbled and I'm guessing whatever happened between the two was because of M'gann's powers.

I noticed that the Martian looked down sadly. I was hoping that us trying to make her happy would've lasted longer.

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing that Manhunter does?" Kid Flash questions.

"Density shifting?" M'gann corrected, before shaking her head. "No. I-it's a very advanced technique."

"Flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall." The Boy Wonder began chuckling before continuing, "but when he tries it, bloody nose."

" _Dude!_ "

Then she smiled proudly. "Here's something I can do. Camouflage mode." I couldn't really tell if we were camouflaged but when I looked out the window, I noticed that the wings were no longer visible.

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian." The voice of the android rang through the Bioship. "An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor power plant. I suggest you investigate covertly. I'm sending coordinates."

"Received," she responded. "Adjusting course."

Robin scoffed and Wally crossed his arms. "Tornado's keeping us busy again."

I looked back at the Boy Wonder. "Whaddya mean?"

"It's been two weeks since Batman said he would give us a mission," he explained, "and now they're just making sure we don't pull another Cadmus again."

"Well, a simple fire led you to Superboy." Miss Martian said in an optimistic tone. "We should find out what caused the alert."

"I think I know the cause." Superboy spoke up and we all followed his gaze to see and very violent tornado spinning towards us. At first I was scared. Whoever caused this was _not_ a normal person and might be a superhuman. That would mean this is my first mission against someone nonhuman. Then I realized this would finally be my chance to prove that I can handle myself against someone superhuman.

M'gann tried moving the Bioship away from the tornado but it was too late; it caught us. Suddenly, we began spinning uncontrollably and all of us tried to stay in her seats, gripping onto whatever we could tightly, with my hands grabbed Kaldur's and Superboy's seats in front of me.

I wasn't sure how but the Martian was able to escape the tornado, flying away to somewhere safer. She landed the Bioship on the ground and all of us jumped out.

As the tornado neared the building and people's cars, we could hear screaming and yelling from civilians. I looked at my new friends. "We _have_ to do something."

"Robin, are tornadoes common to New England?" Kaldur asked but when he heard no response he looked around for the said younger Bat. "Robin?"

"Where did he-?" I blinked in confusion, wondering where he went and how he managed to rush away so quickly without anyone noticing.

"He was just here." M'gann pointed out, also very confused. All of a sudden, the windows on the building imploded and we exchanged looks. The five of us hurried into the building and I pulled out my bō-staff along the way, just in case.

"I thought you could control the whole animal kingdom with your charm bracelet thingy." Kid Flash said, pointing at my weapon.

"I can," I assured the ginger. "I like to use this too."

As soon as we entered the building, I saw an android who was strangely wearing a scarf. Maybe it's a fashionable robot?

Superboy jumped down next to Robin who was currently knocked on the ground. "Who's your new friend?"

"Didn't catch his name, but he plays kinda rough." The Boy Wonder yelled as the clone helped him off the ground. All of us stood together as we observed the bot.

"My apologies." He said _very_ insincerely, "you may address me as mister _Twister_." Well, someone has a Red Tornado fixation.

Just as his namesake, the android creates two twisters starting from his palms and pushed them towards us. I realized that maybe my bō-staff wasn't the best weapon to take this dude down. I touched the Devatma totem and felt the power, speed and stability of the Siberian tiger surge through me.

Superboy and I charged towards the bot and I thought we'd be able to get a good hit on him but it was so hard to move through the winds. Suddenly, he pushed a large gust of at the two us and we both flew backwards, into the wall. I groaned in pain, looking up at the two large dents in the wall.

The clone gave me a look, like he was confused at why I would charge head first with him at the android. "You're not the only strong person on this team, _chingu_." He gave me another confused look. "It means friend."

"Friend?" Superboy repeated and I nodded, giving him a weak smile. Sure my limbs were hurting right now, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I gazed over at my new friends who weren't doing a good job either. Twister dude threw Wally out of the building and threw Kaldur and M'gann backwards.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero." The android announced and I noticed Robin bringing out two Birdarangs behind his back. "I was not, however, expecting children."

"We're not children!" Robin exclaimed annoyed, flinging the Birdarangs forward. One of the managed to take down the tiny tornados with an explosion and the other impaled the bot.

Superboy and I helped each other off the ground before rushing to Kaldur and M'gann. I outstretched my hand towards the Atlantean, remembering how he helped me off the floor when I first entered – well, more like _crashed_ – into the Cave. He took it, thanking me, before we joined back up with the younger Bat.

Mister Twister flicked it off with ease before it exploded. "Objectively, you are. Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence here quite disturbing."

"Well, we hate to see you disturbed." Robin said sarcastically, annoyed that he referred to us as _children_. "Let's see if you're more _turbed_ once we kick your can."

M'gann raised her hands at a cover over the android and telepathically broke it, causing steam to cover him and cloak our attack.

Superboy ran forward first and I decided to stay back with Kaldur, Robin and M'gann so that way he wouldn't take out both heavy hitters. I was glad I did because as soon as the clone went to attack, the bot threw him back into M'gann, who also went to attack.

The three of us charged at Mister Twister. I prepared myself to attack the bot but just as all of us got close, he created three more tiny twisters, sending us into a whirlwind.

I wasn't expecting to be thrown around and shaken so violently which made it harder for me to regain my senses. Then the tornado around me disappeared and I was thrown into Kaldur and Robin, causing us to yell in pain.

"Indeed." It was almost as if the bot was chuckling. "That was quite _turbing_. Thank you." He flew away from the five of us as we struggled to get up.

True, this dude wasn't like a normal mugger Vixen and I would face but I wasn't dead yet. I was definitely in _a lot_ of pain but I was managing.

Once again, Aqualad held out his hand, causing me to laugh. "It seems like we're always helping each other off the ground, huh?"

The Atlantean managed a small smile, but I realized he must've been in a lot of pain too. "It would seem so."

We followed the android outside where we saw Wally trapped in a tiny tornado but just before it disappeared, M'gann levitated him safely back onto the ground. "I got you Wally."

"Ohh." I'm guessing the speedster thought it was someone else holding him up. "Thanks."

"I would have thought you had all learned your limitations by now." Mister Twister said, glaring at us from where he was in the sky. "

"What do you want?!" Kaldur exclaimed, his once calm voice now gone.

"Isn't it obvious?" the android replies as he flies higher into the air. "I'm waiting for a real hero."

The Atlantean looked over his shoulder at M'gann. "Read his mind," he orders. "Find a weakness."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that!" The Martian responded confused.

Robin raised up his hands as he yelled, "It's okay with the bad guys!"

She nods, closing her eyes and pressing her fingers to her temple. She was silent for a few moments before reporting, "Nothing, I'm getting nothing… _Hello, Megan!_ Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise. He's inorganic, an android. And how many androids do _you_ know that can generate tornados?"

My mouth formed an 'o' as I looked up at the android. " _Ooohhh_ , that is true."

"Red Tornado sent us here." Kaldur clarified before Robin and Wally exchanged looks.

Robin added, "After saying we'd be tested soon enough. _This_ is his test, something to keep us busy."

"I don't think people would call _this_ a time waster in the babysitter's manual." I commented with a frown, rubbing my side where I'm pretty sure a lot of bruises were forming. "More like punishment for drinking all of the apple juice…"

"Or eating all of the gummy bears." Wally said, like he was speaking from experience. "Speedy called it. We're a joke. This game, so over."

Kaldur punched his hand in anger and sighed. So much for this being the big mission that proves I can _actually_ handle myself.

We all approached the android, annoyed that this whole thing wasn't real. I looked up at the bot. I wondered if he heard our conversation and if he did, wouldn't he have stopped this test already?

"We know who you are and what you want!" Robin shouted up at him.

Kaldur threw his arms out, looking up at him as well. "So let's end this."

He narrowed his eyes at us, "Consider it ended." He raised up his hands and created two large tornados that twisted into the sky, causing it to fill with dark, ominous clouds.

I got this strange, bad feeling from his actions. "Uhh, guys?" I guessed that no one was able to hear me over to howling winds.

"An impressive show, but we will not indulge you. We will not engage." Aqualad yelled over the winds. Lighting erupted over the android and the bad feeling I had grew larger.

"Uh, can Red Tornado do that?" Kid Flash questioned uncertainly, referring to the huge storm around us.

Mister Twister laughs, "You think _I'm_ Tornado? Ironic."

Suddenly, a loud boom of thunder erupted followed by lightning that struck the ground, exploding the area around us.

I screamed as I flew backwards, my head hitting the ground first. I must've blacked out for a few moments because when my eyes opened Mister Twister was gone. I sat up, rubbing my head that was throbbing in pain.

"What happened?" the ginger asked, looking up at M'gann.

"I placed the bioship between us." She replied softly.

Superboy yelled in annoyance, punching the ground behind him. I realized that there was an indentation in the ground where he must've flew into because of Mister Twister. "And that's supposed to make it right? You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado."

"She didn't do it on purpose." Kaldur defended.

"Yeah, why would she want to get us killed?" I added. "She's our teammate."

"I-it was a rookie mistake. We shouldn't have listened." Robin responded, shrinking away from the angry clone.

Wally rubbed the back of his head, looking down at the Martian. "You are pretty inexperienced. Hit the showers. We'll take it from here." He gazed over at me. "You should go too Calypso. You're pretty inexperienced too."

" _What?!_ " I squawked in complete shock. "But-"

"Stay out of our way." Superboy growled, marching past the group before running off, Kid Flash and Robin following.

I frowned, looking down at my boots. This was just like Vixen fiasco all over again.

"I was just trying to be part of the team." Miss Martian said, looking down in sadness as well.

Kaldur rubbed the back of his head. "To be honest, I'm not sure we really have a team." Before he ran off and followed the others, he sighed. "I'm sorry."

After he ran off, I looked over to M'gann with a sad smile. "We did our best though right?"

"You're right. We should head back to the Cave and tell Red Tornado what happened." She said, opening the entrance to the Bioship.

As we walked into the vehicle, I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Don't let their words get to you."

"I can tell they're getting to you too… why are you trying to make me feel better?"

"Because, I hate it when people are sad." I responded, trying to make her smile. "Besides, even though we're inexperienced, we kicked total bot ass."

She giggled, causing my smile to widen. "I'm sorry that I thought Mister Twister was Red Tornado."

I shrugged. "It's not biggie M'gann. We all make mistakes, that's how we learn."

"Y'know for a sixteen year-old, you're pretty wise."

"I watch a lot of doctor Phil and read a few phycology books." She laughed as we sat down on the newly formed seats in the Bioship. We talked a lot about TV shows and I had no idea Martians loved them. Once we were in range, she reported to Red Tornado what happened and why the rest of the boys weren't with us.

"The team really needs your help." M'gann said to the nice android who was on a screen in front of us.

"If I intervened, it would not be to help." He responded. "Still, it is an odd coincidence that this Twister shares my elemental abilities and my immunity to telepathy."

She was silent for a few moments before she face-palmed. " _Hello Megan!_ Thanks RT!"

I turned around in my seat, looking at the Martian. "M'gann, what-"

"I have a plan to stop Mister Twister."

My eyes widen. "You do? What is it?"

"Remember how he said he wanted to face a real hero?" I nodded before she continued. "Well that's what he's going to get. I'm going to shape-shift into Red Tornado and face him."

I raised my eyebrow, "But what about the whole creating tornados thing?"

"That's where Wally and the rest of the team comes in."

"Ohh, he can create tornados to make it look like you're actually RT!"

"Exactly!" I high-fived her, saying that it's a great plan. As we flew from the Cave to go find the boys and Mister Twister, I turned around again. "Hey, M'gann?"

"Yes?"

"Um," I nervously played with my finger, "what happened between you and Superboy?" I was afraid that I might ruin her mood or make her sad again and when she became silent, I feared that I might have.

" _I spoke to him like this,_ " I winced at the sound of her voice in my head and she apologized quickly. "I was trying to make him feel better but Wally said that Cadmus made Superboy hate these types of telepathic links."

I rubbed the side of my head. "It probably takes a while to get used to. Like Robin said, he'll come around."

She smiled at me before we approached the team. She put the Bioship in camouflage mode before standing up, " _Listen to me, all of you._ " Even though it made my head hurt, it was cool that she was able to make a physic link between all of us.

" _What did we tell you two?_ " Superboy growled.

" _We know, and I know I messed up, but now I'm very clear on what we need to do. Please trust me._ "

As M'gann explained the plan, she morphed into Red Tornado and 'parked' the Bioship behind a large house so she wouldn't be seen coming out of it. I jumped out of the vehicle rushing towards the boys, warning people to leave the area along the way.

'Red Tornado' flew over us before landing on the ground. "Hit the showers, kids. I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly you cannot."

"But we've got a plan now."

"The subject is not up for debate." The 'android' responded firmly and we all turned away, acting sad and defeated.

Mister Twister hovered over the ground, probably glad that a 'real hero', whatever that means, was finally here to face him. "I was beginning to believe you'd never show up."

"I'm here now," 'RT' announced before conjuring a 'tornado' and throwing it towards Mister Twister. He flew backwards creating another one himself and sending it to the other 'android' who deflected it easily. "We are evenly matched, Twister." Another 'tornado' was created behind 'RT.'

"No Tornado, we are _not_!" the evil android punched the ground, creating a twister, blocking the attack before shooting electricity towards him. 'Red Tornado' tried dodging it but once the beam hit the boat beside him, it exploded, and the 'android' fell onto the ground, making it look like he was defeated.

Mister Twister flew over to him, "Remain still, android. The reprogramming won't take long."

Just before the cords reached the 'bot's' temple, M'gann grabbed them, pulling them off, and morphed to show her face on RT's body. "Longer than you might think." She grinned as the android backed away in shock.

"No!" she pushed him off into a tornado that Wally created that sent him flying onto the ground. I touched the Devatma totem, feeling the strength of the Griffin flood through me.

Superboy and I rushed towards the bot and he began punching it over and over as I jumped up on it's shoulder's grabbing it's arms and pulling them off. I flipped off him before Superboy pushed him into the water, where Aqualad would work his powerful Atlantean water magic.

Just as an explosion went off, Mister Twister shot from the water and landed on the ground, still shaking from the electricity.

M'gann levitated him, taking off his legs with Robin's Birdarangs helping and he crashed onto the floor with a loud thud. We all regrouped, approaching the android who tried getting up – even though he was just a torso.

Suddenly, his chest opened, revealing a person who fell out in front of us with a groan. "Foul. I-I call foul."

The Martian approached the dude, raising her hand to move a rock out of the ground and crushed him, despite Aqualad's protests.

I exchanged shocked looks with the boys, wondering why in the hell she just did that. But I trusted her. She wouldn't do it without a reason. Robin angrily approached her, "Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth, we don't _execute_ our captives!"

She smirked, placing her hand on her hip. "You said you'd trust me." She removed the rock, revealing that the dude we all thought was human was actually an android – a very _crushed_ one to be exact. "That's why I couldn't read his mind."

"I never doubted you for a moment," I gently bumped my shoulder with hers and we smiled at each other.

Kid Flash crouched down in front of the now junk metal and picked up its eye. "Cool. Souvenir~"

The Atlantean placed his hand on her shoulder, "We should have had more faith in you."

"Yeah," Wally agreed, smiling apologetically, "You rocked this mission. Get it? Rocked."

Robin rolled his eyes. "Ignore him. We're all just turbed you're on the team – both of you."

My eyes light up in happiness. "Really?"

"Hell yeah!" the ginger exclaimed. "You took off both of his arms, like _that!_ " he snapped his fingers. "That was really cool."

I blushed, "Thanks."

* * *

We had brought the remains back to the Cave, telling him what happened. Robin was looking through all of the technology, making sure it wasn't tracking our location and that it was dead, err, offline.

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you." Kaldur said to the android.

"Agreed." I couldn't tell if he was worried at all that someone was trying to kill him but then I realized that he was a robot after all, he's not able to feel emotions.

"That's why you wouldn't help us, huh?" I questioned, looking towards the red android.

He shoke his head. "No. This was your battle. I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you. Nor should you solve mine for me."

M'gann interjected, "But if you're in danger…"

"Consider this matter closed." He stated, turning away from us and walking away into another area of the Cave.

"Batman, Aquaman, and Flash, they'd have jumped right in to fix things." Wally said.

"Guess if we're gonna have a baby sitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need." The younger Bat added and Kid Flash elbowed him in the ribs.

" _Dude!_ " he exclaimed. "Harsh."

"And inaccurate." RT turned around, facing the two teens. "I have a heart, carbon-steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing."

Robin rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "Heh, right. Sorry. I'll strive to be more accurate."

"And more respectful." Kaldur responded, walking over to him. Just as the boys walked away and Superboy apologized to M'gann, I was happy that today turned out well. I found a new group of friends who felt the same way I did about being underestimated. I felt at home and welcomed in this Cave and I didn't want to go back to the apartment with Vixen back in Detroit.

Just as I was about to catch up with M'gann, the Zeta tube called out, " _Recognized, Vixen, A08."_

My eyes widened as my mentor entered the Cave and the whole room turned silent as the blood drained from my face. "Oh shit…"


	4. Drop Zone

**Nightcat:** aww thank you so much c: I hope you enjoy this chapter~  
 **luz nocturna:** thank you so much, I'm glad you like my story~ I hope you'll stick around until the very end.  
 **Guest:** c: you're so sweet, thank you so much. I honestly hate that too because it's so unrealistic. I'm pretty sure any parental figure/mentor/y'know what I mean, would do anything they could to keep their kid out of harm's way (not Harm, lol) and not tell them it's completely okay to go on crazily dangerous missions.  
 **Guest:** I'm glad you liked that line~ I want to make their relationship as real as possible. I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
 **Guest:** Of course, I will! I've been caught up with a lot of school/college stuff, considering it is my last year of high school. Yay! And to answer your question, yes, she is indeed thick but she is not mixed with black. I'm really glad you like Calypso!

 **Sorry for such a long hiatus. School is officially over but I still have a job so I'll update when I can. Thank you so much for 18 favorites and 21 follows~ it means a lot. Don't forget to review!**

 **Update: I was going to make Drop Zone into two parts but as I was writing the next chapter, I just thought I might as well make it all one part. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave any kind of feedback. It really is appreciated.**

* * *

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 – **Drop Zone**  
"Smile, the worst is yet to come.  
We'll be lucky if we ever see the sun.  
Got nowhere to go, we could be here for a while,  
but the future is forgiven, so smile."

" _CALYPSO LEA CALLAGHAN!_ " my mentor's voice boomed throughout the Cave and instead of immediately shrinking in my spot, I stood tall and proud. For once, I wasn't scared of her anger. In a speed rivaling Wally's, she grabbed my ear and tugged me into the Zeta tubes. I didn't even hear the computer announce our names because Vixen started yelling at me.

I was honestly in such a good mood that even her getting mad at me didn't bother me. I kept a bright smile, which annoyed her.

We were outside an alleyway in Detroit and of course, it was raining but thanks to the close proximity of the buildings, we didn't get too wet. She slammed the entrance to the Zeta tubes behind her and ran her fingers angrily through her short hair.

"Before you start yelling at me again, can you at least calm down?" I question, crossing my arms.

"You're telling me to calm – Calypso, you could've gotten yourself killed! Don't you understand that?!" she exclaimed, her voice loud just as it was before.

I shoke my head, keeping my calm demeanor, "I was careful and safe. This totem," I held up my wrist, looking at the charm, "is a lot more powerful than I ever realized. And besides, I wasn't alone. My new friends, my teammates, they wouldn't let anything happen to me. Mari, I felt complete and at home. They understand me... like you do."

She stayed silent as I explained everything that happened and how awesome my teammates were. She looked impressed when I told her I ripped the arms off Mister Twister. Once I had finished, she continued to not say anything which started to make me scared. Usually, she was never this quiet. She was always loud and voicing her anger and opinions.

I looked up at my mentor and rushed into her arms, hugging her tightly. It must've surprised her because she staggered back. Mari and I weren't the touchiest of people and it wasn't because we didn't love or care about each other – we do very much – but _hugging_ just wasn't our thing.

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you but no matter how much you yell at me or if you ground me for life, I will always find a way back to the team." I stated, pulling away from her. " _This_ , being with them, is what I was meant to do."

My mentor took a deep breath, as if she was calming herself down. I tried reading her expression, wondering why she was so against me fulfilling my potential and being a part of the Team but I didn't get anything.

"You're going to stay with Chuck and Patty for a while." She finally said. "I am _very_ angry with you Calypso-"

"But _why?!_ " I exclaimed. "I didn't get hurt, I helped save a lot of people, I made some friends – besides doing what you said no to do, I don't understand why you're _so_ mad at me." She stayed silent as she grabbed my arm and we went back to our apartment. I have never seen Mari act like this. She'd be quiet with me, but never _this_ quiet. She would normally be back to herself and we'd both apologize and watch old TV shows but this… this was apparently different.

Mari picked up her cell phone, probably calling her adoptive parents, "Go pack what you need, _now_. I'm done having this conversation."

I sighed, storming off from her. There was something she wasn't telling me and I had to find out what that was. I slammed my door, leaning against it.

 _Buuuzzzz!_

I walked over to my phone and saw that I had ten missed texts and thirteen missed calls from Zoe. All I wanted was to talk to my best friend and tell her absolutely everything but I didn't want Mari mad at me more than she already was. I turned off my phone and grabbed my backpack and began filling it with clothes.

"Vixen, the Team preformed adequately against their fight with Mister Twister," I raised my eyebrow at the deep voice that was speaking, "no civilian was seriously injured thanks to them." I slowly opened my bedroom door and peeked out.

"You don't understand, Batman. I am trying to protect her-"

"She is not a child anymore Mari." The Dark Knight interrupted. "You won't be able to protect her from everything."

My mentor sighed in annoyance. "I _know_ she can take care of herself but that's not what I mean." I noticed the older Bat's eyes drift around the house and before he could catch me eavesdropping, I ducked to the side, hoping I wouldn't get caught. "Remember that secret council group? I found their two new members and their operatives and they are her f-"

 _Ring! Ring! Ring!_

I guessed it was Chuck and Patty calling Mari back and when I looked out of my door, I noticed Batman was gone. I closed my door, not bothering to listen to Mari's conversation.

Who was that group she was talking about? And what did their new people have to do with me? Thanks to Mari's overprotectiveness, I've never met or faced a villain until today so what would they want with me?

As soon as I was done packing, I put my uniform, domino mask and phone in there as well.

"You're not going to Chuck and Patty's." Mari announced, her arms crossed and her expression still unreadable. "You are going to stay at the Cave where you will be more protected. You can stay there for as long as you'd like, this is always your home but-"

"You need time to cool off, trust me, I know." I gave her a small smile but she kept her eyes glued to the ground. "I love you." I wanted to ask her what she was saying earlier but those three words mean a lot more right now.

She finally sighed and kissed the top of my head. "I love you too."

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**  
 **JULY 19, 01:03 EDT**

" _Recognized, Virago, B-06."_ The computer announced as I entered the Cave.

"Calypso?" I heard a sleepy Kaldur call out as he dimmed the lights that had turned on as soon as I entered the mountain. "What is wrong?"

I shrugged, acting nonchalant. "Nothing really… Vixen kinda kicked me out, saying that staying here could protect me from…" I noticed that the Atlantean was rubbing his eyes and I felt bad. " _Mianhamnida_ , not really a good time to vent. I didn't mean to wake you up Kaldur."

"If there is something that is troubling you, you can talk to me." He assured. "I am your teammate after all."

"Are you sure? You don't mind?"

He smiled with a nod. "Not at all." He walked over to me and grabbed my backpack slinging it over his shoulder, despite me protesting. "Your room will be across from M'gann's. Is that alright?"

"It's perfect." The room was about the size as the one I had back at the apartment except it wasn't decorated. The bed was the only thing in the room but I didn't mind; it was a place to sleep after all.

Kaldur placed my belongings on the bed and sat down and I joined him. "What is wrong?"

"So y'know how Vixen is my mentor?" I said and he nodded. "Well, she's also my adoptive parent. I don't really remember much about my real parents but according to Vix, they were very neglectful and played favorites with my older brother and sister so she adopted me. Years later I began training and became Virago and _jjajan_ ~! Here I am." The Atlantean chuckled making me smile. "You already know how she's against me joining the team so I'll skip that. When she dragged me home, she was so angry at me and I had no clue why until I overheard her talking to Batman about some… _danche_ – whatever is English for um… uh… a lot of people in a…"

"Group? Organization?" Kaldur suggested and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, org… original-"

He chuckled. "Or-gani-za-tion."

"Or-gani-za-tion. Thank you, but anyway they are after me or…" I buried my face into my hands, realizing that I was rambling, " _Michigetda_ …"

He raised his eyebrow in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It's Korean for 'I feel like I'm going crazy.'" I responded. "Korean is my first language so I tend to mix the two up from time to time, sorry."

Kaldur shoke his head as if he didn't mind. "I understand. Atlantean is my first language as well, which is why when I speak English, I speak it very formally."

"I thought it was just because you're a gentleman," I giggled, making him chuckle.

"Thank you," the Atlantean smiled, "as for your situation, I believe staying at the Cave would ensure your safety. No one would harm you here. But I do not understand why Vixen is angry with you?"

"It has something to do with that group of people." I guessed with a shrug, looking over at him. "Who do you think they are?"

Kaldur paused for a few moments for replying, "I am not sure, but if the League knows who they are then we should let them take care of it."

His words lifted a weight off my shoulders because I knew he was right. I didn't realize it until now how tense I was about someone coming after me. It was _really_ scary when you think about it but I was safe in the Cave and I had my friends and the Justice League to protect me.

I gave Kaldur a warm smile. "Thank you for talking to me, it really helped. And I'm really sorry for keeping you awake…"

" _You are welcome and it is alright_." He replied and I realized he was speaking Atlantean, which made my smile grow wider.

"When it's not one in the morning, maybe we could teach other our native languages?" I suggested as he was getting up from my now new bed.

He opened the door and nodded in agreement, "I would like that. Goodnight Virago."

"Hey, we're off duty, call me Calypso or Caly."

"Apologies, _Calypso_. Goodnight."

I think I made a new friend.

 **CARIBBEAN SEA**  
 **JULY 22, 20:08 ECT**

"We're approaching Santa Prisca." Miss Martian announced, her eyes focused on the sea that we were flying past. Well, she was probably thinking about the mission at hand but you've gotta admit, the sea, even at night, was beautiful. "Drop zone A in thirty."

The Bioship slowed down as it dove down, closer to the water as Aqualad stood up from his seat. It deformed, sinking back into the ship as he touched the emblem on his uniform, the colors transforming into a dark shade of gray. "Ready."

"Putting bioship in camouflage mode." M'gann said as a hole opened on the Bioship's ground. I exchanged looks with Kaldur, telling him to be careful and he nodded. He jumped out and plunged into the water.

I know that Kaldur has been doing hero work a lot longer than me but I still worry. This is technically the first real planned mission we have all been on together, with no mentors or anyone. I was feeling a little anxious but I wasn't sure if it was all excitement or all worry.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched." He reported a few moments later and I let go a sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding in. "Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in."

The Bioship flew across the water and into the forest, where it stopped. "Drop zone B." the rest of us stood up in our seats as Miss Martian raised her hand and made cables fall from the ceiling for Robin and Kid Flash.

Kid Flash touched the emblem on his chest, his uniform also changing into 'camouflage mode.' "How cool is this~?" he referred to his uniform, looking at M'gann.

"Very impressive." Her eyes closed as the colors of her clothes transformed into dark gray and black as well. The speedster was ogling her, yet again, causing me to roll my eyes. I touched symbol on my chest and watched in amazement as the orange on my uniform change into dark gray. _This is so cool._

"Uh, that works, too." The ginger said and glanced over at Superboy. "Hey, Supey, not too late to put on the new stealth tech."

The clone crossed his arms, "No capes, no tights. No offense."

"It _totally_ works for you." I looked over at Miss Martian, surprised at her outburst. I'm guessing she really does have a crush on Superboy. "In that you can totally do good work in those clothes." I slightly chuckled. _Good save M'gann._

She put up her hood and turned invisible before flying out of the Bioship. I touched my totem just before I jumped out, feeling the flight of a simple owl rush through me. I could've chosen something faster but this was covert mission and owls were able to fly almost silently. Kid Flash and Robin followed, detaching themselves from the line.

I was just about to question where Superboy was until Robin grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the way as the clone slammed into the ground, causing a cloud of dirt to cover the area for a few seconds. "Knew I didn't need a line." He grinned.

"And yet creating a seismic event," I stood up, helping the Boy Wonder off the ground, "may not have helped us much with the _covert_."

"I don't think covert is in his vocabulary." I commented, earning a glare from the clone.

"Aqualad, drop B is go." The Martian said as she floated down to the ground.

"Head for the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP." Aqualad replied. I smiled, still glad that he was okay.

Robin nodded as he pulled up a holographic map of the area on his glove. "Roger that." I touched my totem again and changed into the cheetah before we sprinted off towards the factory.

* * *

Navigating through the jungle was a lot harder than Lara Croft made it out to be. We soon reached a mountain of some sorts with a waterfall. If we weren't on a mission I would love to come back to his place and take pictures.

"Vira, check to see if the coast is clear." Robin ordered, referring to the high up ledge that lead back into the forest. I nodded, jumping up as far as I could and latched onto the rock before climbing up onto the ledge and peered over it. I listened for any kind of noises and looked for anything suspicious but everything was silent.

"Everything's clear." I announced to my team before flipping up and over the ledge. Miss Martian and I helped our non-flying teammates onto the ledge and made sure Superboy didn't cause another 'seismic event.'

The younger Bat lead the way as the rest of us followed behind him. Suddenly, Superboy stopped. "Did you hear that?"

"Uh, no." Kid Flash answered as Miss Martian and I shoke our heads. "Wait. Is this a super hearing thing?"

"You do have great ears." M'gann complimented the clone with a small smile. I focused my hearing, hoping I could at least detect something.

Kid Flash glanced over at me, "You getting anything?"

"Just footsteps ahead of us. Maybe ten or so people."

"Okay, Rob, now what?" the speedster turned forward to see the Boy Wonder but he disappeared, _again_. "Damn, I _hate it_ when he does that."

I sighed. "Does he does this often?"

He nodded, huffing in annoyance. "Too often."

"Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared." The Atlantean said. "See if you're being tracked."

"How far away are you?" I questioned into the comm.

"Not far." He responded. "I will be there shortly."

Kid Flash put on his goggles and reported a few seconds later, "Got a squad of armed bozos incoming. You two were right."

We got closer to where Kid Flash saw the armed men and hide behind a boulder and fallen tree. "Two squads." Superboy corrected after he focused his eyes on the area ahead. "But they'll meet each other before they find us."

Suddenly, the sounds of gun fire echoed around us and Miss Martian gasped. "No super hearing required now."

"Swing wide, steer clear!" Aqualad advised as Kid Flash jumped over the tree, ignoring the Atlantean.

"Yeah, as soon as I find Rob." Before any of us could protest, the speedster speed down the muddy hill towards the gunfire.

I rolled my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Great." I tapped my totem and felt the flight of the Peregrine Falcon surge through me. I flew after the ginger and watched as he tripped and slid down the hill and right in between the two groups of men, who stopped shooting thankfully.

Kid Flash mumbled something before they began shooting again but he was able to rush off. With my bo staff in hand, I flew into one of the armed men and shoved him onto the ground and swung around my staff to knock out the man next to him.

Out of nowhere, the Boy Wonder emerged, jumping down onto the ground. "What is wrong with you guys?" he exclaimed, taking out the two men next to him.

"Us?" I flipped onto another armed man and used his vest to swing him into another guy. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Don't you guys remember covert? Why didn't you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?"

"That's what you were doing?" Kid Flash flipped backwards and kicked a goon in the face, knocking him out. "Way to fill us in. We're not mind readers, y'know." As if on cue, Miss Martian telekinetically threw two men into a tree. "Err, I'm not anyway."

"You told me I could only read the bad guys' minds." She said, crossing her arms.

Suddenly, the sounds of rushing footsteps came towards us and just as I turned around, Aqualad jumped down, placing a hand of his chest. His water bearers glowed as he sent a wave of electricity onto the robbed man, sending him to the ground. He stomped on his gun, breaking it.

As he turned around, I thanked the Atlantean, sending him a small smile before we tied up the men, making sure they didn't get away. I noticed one of the men was Bane but I didn't know much about him.

"I recognize those uniforms." The younger Bat said, rubbing his chin in thought. "They belong to the cult of the Kobra." I had no idea what he was talking about but since Bane was involved, they probably weren't a good group. I didn't know really anything about Bane, except I remember seeing news reports of him fighting Batman in Gotham.

"I am certain Batman would have mentioned it If he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation." Kaldur responded, looking at Robin.

He nodded. "Agreed. And since there's clearly no love lost between the cultists and those goons, I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off." He smirked in satisfaction, like he was glad he figured everything out _first_.

"We get it." The speedster responded before Robin could show off more of his detective skills. "Kobra wanted super cultists. Mystery solved. Radio Bats, and we'll be home in time-"

"These cultists aren't _on_ Venom, Kobra's hoarding the stuff." Robin corrected matter-of-factly, causing me to roll my eyes. Geez, this kid was getting _really_ annoying. "We don't leave. Not until I know why."

Kid Flash glared at him. "Until _you_ know why?"

"This team needs a leader!" The Boy Wonder reminded him and I remembered the briefing before our mission when Robin asked who would be leader. That's why he wanted to know everything.

The ginger scoffed, "And it's _you_? Dude, you're a 13-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word."

Robin laughed sarcastically, shaking his head. "And you're a mature 15? You blew our cover first chance you got."

They continued to argue and as much as I would love to stop them, they probably wouldn't listen to me, unless I was Batman. Everyone listens to Batman. _Everyone_.

I huffed in annoyance, crossing my arms, causing Aqualad to glance over at me. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy." I replied. "Who do you think should lead the team?"

"I am not sure." He said. "Robin is too young and Kid Flash is…"

I giggled, " _Misughan._ You should lead Kal," I gently bumped his shoulder with mine. "You've been doing well so far."

"Yeah? You don't even have super powers!" Kid Flash retorted, raising up his hands.

"Neither does Batman!"

"Duh, you're not Batman."

"Duh, closest thing we've got!"

He raised his eyebrows in confusion, ignoring the two boys arguing. "What do you mean?"

"Well you are the one who told us to head for the factory and tell Kid and Supey to switch to infrared." I pointed out. "Technically you have been leading us."

"Why do you not want to lead?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Um… I'm not sure…" I wanted to say that I wouldn't be too confident with my leaderships skills and I would be second guessing my orders but I was afraid of what Kaldur would say.

He placed his hand on my shoulder, knowing that I was uncomfortable. "It is alright. You do not have to tell me, I understand."

I smiled at him. " _Kamsamnida_ , Kaldur- err, I mean thank you." He returned the smile as we looked over to the speedster and younger bat who were _still_ arguing.

"Do you want me to stop them, or should you?"

"How?"

I smirked, cracking my knuckles, "Oh, y'know…"

"Calypso…" Kaldur warned, sending me a disapproving look.

"What? I wouldn't hurt them or anything. Well, maybe a _little_."

He shoke his head, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let us not stop them with violence, yeah?"

I sighed, nodding in agreement. "You're right Kal. Where would I be without your guidance?"

Kaldur chuckled in response as he walked over to the two boys and I noticed a faint smirk across his lips. "Robin, Kid Flash, please, now is not the time to-"

A deep laugh interrupted Kaldur and I noticed it came from Bane. I looked over at him and realized how much bigger he was than the media portrayed him to be. If he was awake, then why hasn't he tried to escape?

"Such clever _ninos_. But you only know half the story." The rest of the team approached the tied-up villain as he spoke. "Let me show you the rest - get you into the factory via my secret entrance."

M'gann crouched in front of him, pressing her hand to her temple as her eyes glowed. "There is a secret entrance, but he's also _hiding_ something."

"Ah, ah, ah, _chica_. Bane is not that easy."

The Martian continued to focus until she sighed. "He's mentally reciting _futbol_ scores _en espanol_. This could take a while."

Bane shrugged. "It's not complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

* * *

He lead us to a cliff that overlooked the factory. I noticed a few groups of men around the factory and boxes of something that I couldn't read. Even with the sense of a cheetah, my vision wasn't that amazing.

Robin pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area as well. "Look at all that product. A buy _is_ going down… but if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects, then-"

"We need to identify that buyer." Aqualad clarified.

Kid Flash stood up, pushing back his goggles. "Just what I was thinking."

"Heh," the Boy Wonder sneered, "yeah, _you're_ the thinker."

I glared at the younger Bat. "Really? Is now the time for your petty argument?" Robin narrowed his eyes at me and I rolled my eyes, folding my arms together.

"Exactly." The ginger said in agreement. "Besides a _real leader_ would focus on getting answers."

I nodded in agreement. "See? You should listen to him."

"Thank you!"

Kaldur placed his hands between the three of us before another heated argument happened. "Please do not start this again. Let us focus on the task at hand."

I noticed that Bane had disappeared from the group and followed Superboy's and Miss Martian's gaze that was trained on the villain. He picked up a boulder that was apparently blocking a path into a tunnel, illuminated by lanterns. He wiped the dirt off his hands, motioning to the entrance. "Answers are this way." We all approached the entrance, following Bane.

"So, now _el luchador_ is our leader." Kid Flash commented, causing Robin to shove his shoulder as he followed the villain.

I shoke my head. " _Jjar jeung nah_." Miss Martian glanced at me, giving me a comforting smile. I followed Kid Flash into the tunnel, the rest of the members in tow.

Eventually we came to a closed door with a mechanism glowing red. Bane pressed a button and it changed to green, opening the door into the factory. Well I guess that's _one_ way of getting in there undetected.

Bane pressed his back against the door, peering out and Robin was right below him, looking around. "All clear!" he reported before rushing out. We tried following him, more quietly and slowly than the Boy Wonder, but he was already gone.

"Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane questioned, shaking his head.

"No," Kaldur answered, "he just does that."

I crossed my arms. "Way too often."

"Stay put." Kid Flash slipped on his goggles. "I'll get our intel and be back before the boy wonder."

"Wait, Kid!" Once again, the speedster speed off despite our protests.

"Great chain of command." Bane said sarcastically and I glared at him. We're still new to this thing, cut us some slack. I've never seen you be a part of a functioning team before.

I heard M'gann giggle beside me and I realized she had read my mind. _'I didn't think anyone would hear me.'_

' _It was pretty funny.'_ She admitted as she gave me a small high five. Superboy raised his eyebrow, sending both of us confused looks. "I'll tell ya later Supes." I said, giving him a pat on the back.

We followed Bane towards the entrance and hid behind a few large boxes that contained venom. In front of us were armed men picking up more boxes of product but they looked different from the ones that we were hiding behind.

"It's a massive shipment." The Atlantean said.

"Yeah, but they're only taking new product off the line." Superboy noted. "They're not touching this Venom."

Miss Martian shrugged, "Maybe freshness counts?"

"Maybe… or there's something different in that venom than this venom?" I suggested.

"Helicopters coming." The clone announced and we all followed his gaze to the said rotorcraft that was landing outside the factory. I noticed a few groups of people were going outside and I guessed they were going to greet whoever was in there.

"We need to get closer without being detected." I said and my teammates nodded in agreement.

"Miss Martian, get as close to that helicopter as possible and find out who that mystery buyer is." The Atlantean instructed and she nodded, throwing her hood over her head and disappeared. Superboy had pointed to an area above the factory where we could stay hidden.

I touched my totem and focused on the silent flying owl and flew up to the area first, making sure the coast was clear. I leaned over the edge, looking over at Aqualad and made a notion with my hand, signaling the boys to come on up.

We stayed silent for a few moments, waiting for M'gann to inform us who was on that helicopter. I looked over and noticed Kaldur's eyes were closed.

I was about to question what was wrong until he gasped. "Sportsmaster. He is the buyer? Aqualad to Red Tornado," he pressed his finger to his comm, "Do you read?"

"Kid Flash, Robin, where are – nothing." I tried contacting the other two boys with my comm but all I heard was static.

Aqualad sighed. "Ugh. Can't reach the League, Robin, or Kid. Comm's jammed. We need a plan, now." Superboy and I nodded in agreement but before anyone could say anything we heard Bane crack his knuckles.

"I have a suggestion." He smirked and jumped over the railing and starting attacking the men below us.

My eyes widened in shock as we all stood up. "What is he-" Kaldur was interrupted by a loud roar and some kind of creature bursting through the glass and landing – well, _breaking_ – the platform we were on.

Despite all of us being caught by surprise, we all landed on the ground without hurting ourselves. The creature roared in anger as a group of people stood around it.

" _M-myoya mee cheen_ …" I whispered to no one in particular as I touched my totem, thinking of the mightiest animal I could think of.

"Destroy them." A man ordered and the creature almost seemed to grin before charging at us. Superboy rushed at him as a bunch of armed bolted towards Kaldur and I. My eyes glowed orange feeling the power of the Griffin flow through me.

I was about to jump up and attack them but the Atlantean grabbed my arm and pulled me behind his surprisingly strong water shield that was being shot at. Kaldur took out a few of the men without leaving his shield. I sent him a reassuring look before taking out my bō staff and flying towards a group of armed men.

With a battle cry, I held my staff out in front of me and rammed into a group of men at full force and shoved them into the wall. I retracted my weapon and turned around to help Superboy with whatever that creature was but one of the men grabbed ahold of me.

"Let go!" I struggled to say as his arms locked around my neck. Suddenly, he flew off me and was thrown into the wall. Wait that wasn't Kaldur or Wally or Robin… who-

' _Thank me later V.'_ M'gann spoke in my mind. _'Go help Superboy!'_

I nodded as I put away my bō staff. I scanned the room for the clone who was still having trouble fighting the creature. I took a deep breath, calming my nerves as much as possible before charging at the creature.

" _YAH!_ " I grabbed it's arm and planted my foot firmly on the ground before swinging him around and tossing him into the wall. I winced in pain, looking at my probably bruised shoulder. "Okay, bad idea…"

As soon as I looked back up, the creature was running towards me. I tried moving out the way but it tossed me across the room. Instead of hitting the hard ground, I felt a pair of arms around me.

I glanced up to see the flirtatious grin of a certain speedster. "Hello beautiful-"

I moved us both behind a pillar as men started shooting at us. I flicked his ear, "Your flirting could've killed us both!" He shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

"Miss Martian, radio is jammed!" Aqualad yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Link us up!"

A few seconds later, I heard the Martian's voice in my mind, _'Everyone online?'_

' _Yeah.'_ Superboy grumbled in response.

' _You know it, beautiful~'_

' _Yah! Jinjja?'_ I flicked Kid Flash once again, shaking my head. I peeked my head around the pillar and dodged the gunfire as much as possible as I flew to the other pillar, _away_ from the ginger. _'I'm here M'gann.'_

' _Good.'_ The Atlantean responded. _'We need to regroup.'_

' _Busy now!'_ Robin said abruptly.

' _Robin, now!'_ Kaldur ordered. The Boy Wonder was silent for a few moments and I guessed that he was either stopping whatever he was doing or ignoring Aqualad and doing whatever he was _'busy'_ with.

The Atlantean used a whip of water to take down the gunmen behind him. _'We need to retreat. Kid clear a path.'_

With a _whoosh_ , the speedster took down the rest of the gunmen with ease and the rest of us followed after him. The creature tried attacking Superboy again but he threw him into another group of men. How many dudes with guns are there!?

Superboy slammed the door behind us but the creature easily knocked it down. I reached for my bō staff, ready to fight the creature.

"Superboy, the support beams!" Kaldur ordered. The clone took down one while I took the other, causing the cave to collapse, hopefully taking down whatever that monster was. We eventually stopped to take a rest and hopefully come up with a plan to get out of here.

The Atlantean took out a few large red glow sticks and placed them on the ground. I sat down on the ground, touching my totem and felt the power of the Griffin drain from me. I winced, remembering the pain in my shoulder. The adrenaline must've clouded my pain but since we've stopped and I'm no longer relying on a powerful animal and its abilities, the pain has finally set in.

"Are you okay?" M'gann questioned with a concerned look.

I gestured to my shoulder, "I tried taking down whatever that monster thing was and hurt my shoulder."

It was silent for a few moments until Robin, who wasn't facing us, spoke, "How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?"

"You do have the most experience." Kaldur pointed out. "Perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are defined. You two do not need to talk. But this team is new. And a leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan." Or argue with your supposed _'best friend'_ over who should lead the team.

He whipped his head around. "Oh, so _I'm_ supposed to hold everyone's hands?! Gah… who am I kidding? You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can."

Kid Flash jumped up from his spot, his face etched with anger. " _Please!_ I can run circles–"

Robin shoke his head, probably rolling his eyes. "Wally, come on. You know he's the one. We all do."

I smiled, raising up hand. "Called it~" Kaldur held out his hand, helping me off the ground, making sure not to pull too hard on my shoulder. He inspected my shoulder for a few moments, making sure it wasn't too bad or out of place. "Don't worry, it's just a bruise or two."

" _Hello, Megan!_ It's so obvious." The Martian beamed.

"Could've told you." Superboy said.

Kid Flash looked at Kaldur and his anger washed away, giving him a smile. "Okay."

The Atlantean walked towards Robin, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Then I accept the burden until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon." Robin nodded in agreement. "Alright, our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving this island."

Robin chuckled, crossing his arms. "Funny, I had the same thought."

 _Finally_ , this team thing is starting to work out.

* * *

"Sportsmaster's the supplier slash buyer. But it still doesn't track." Robin said, looking at the holographic image on his glove. Even though he's a _bit_ annoying, his tech is pretty awesome. "He doesn't have the juice to acquire the blockbuster formula or to get Kobra to do his dirty work."

"And neither of them have the chops to bond blockbuster with Venom. That took some major nerdage." Kid Flash pointed out. Moonlight started streaming through the tunnel and I smiled, realizing we were nearing the edge of the tunnel. _Finally, freedom!_

"I believe the expression is 'tip of the of iceberg.'" Kaldur responded as we came to a stop.

I opened my mouth to question why we stopped until Bane approached us, blocking the entrance. He dropped these weird looking cylinder devices, smirking as he did so. "Halt, _ninos_. I'm feeling explosive." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes until I heard something beeping above us. I followed my friends gaze to see five – probably explosive – contraptions attached to the beams and Bane had the trigger.

"You betrayed us." Aqualad said with widened eyes. "Why?"

I quirked my eyebrow, slightly glancing at the Atlantean. _'Are you really so surprised?'_

Bane shrugged nonchalantly. "I want my factory back."

 _'Kid, you'll need a running start.'_ The speedster slowly backed up, eyeing the device in the villain's hand.

"So, I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or _die_ trying. If the latter, the Justice League would certainly have come to avenge their sidekicks." I could imagine Vixen kicking his ass while simultaneously yelling 'I told you so' to my dead body. "And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine once more. Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." He held up his hand, his thumb hovering over the deadly button and just in time, Kid Flash snatched the device from him.

"With what?" Bane whipped his head around to the ginger who was waving around the device. "This trigger thingy?"

The villain let out an angry cry and threw a punch the speedster's way but Miss Martian levitated him up in the air. I followed M'gann out of the tunnel, the rest of the team in tow.

"Finally," Superboy smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Drop 'im."

The Martian lowered her hand with a sly smile and just before Bane hit the ground, Superboy pulled back his fist and slammed it into his face.

* * *

"Let's do this." Kid Flash said with a flirtatious grin as I hopped on his back. I flicked the speedster's ear, pulling out my bō staff, holding it behind my back. "Ow!"

"Mission first, flirting _never_."

"Yes ma'am," he grumbled, holding onto my legs as he sprinted towards the large group of gunned cultists. I noticed Sportsmaster along with two other women I didn't recognize. One woman had short red hair and some sort of black tattoo. The other woman was _far more_ intimidating than the other. She fit in with the cultists from her dark red uniform. Her red lips were set in a hard line and everything about her from her slicked back black hair to her shiny dark red boots was almost perfect – nothing was out of place. I made a mental note to make sure to avoid fighting her.

As soon as we reached the group, I used my staff to knock down a few of the armed men and jumped off the speedster. I touched my totem and felt the strength of an Ox flow through me.

"Take the shipment!" I heard one of the cultists order before Superboy jumped in front of the helicopter, causing _another_ seismic event. At least this time it was a part of the plan. I twirled around my bō staff and charged at one of the armed men, jabbing him in the chest with my staff and shoving him into the ground with my not hurt shoulder.

More of the cultists rushed towards me, firing their _very_ loud guns as they did so. I dodged the bullets as much as I could before sliding under one of the men's legs and locked my staff around his neck using him as shield. Thankfully, Kid Flash took the guns from the men, knocking them out in the process. I removed my staff around the cultist and slammed my elbow into the back of his neck, sending him into the ground.

"Tsk, tsk," an unfamiliar voice chided as the intimidating woman I saw earlier approached me. "All of you _children_ are fools. You will not foil the Light's plan."

Even though this woman scared the crap out of me, I couldn't let her see that – unless she was a mind reader and heard everything I've been saying, then y'know, I'm pretty much screwed. "We are not fools, _museoun agassi_. We will do whatever it takes to stop you."

She threw her head back in laughter which confused me. The woman's lips curled into a devious smile. "You call me a frightful woman and yet, you have the confidence to defeat the Light?"

Either she coincidentally knows Korean or she is a mind reader, or she's both. No matter what she is, she's already ten times scarier than she was a few seconds ago. I gripped my weapon tightly, prepared to fight her. I was trying to look as sinister as possible but it felt like she could see right through me and it freaked me out even more.

"Lamia! Let's go!" Sportsmaster yelled from the helicopter as he threw Miss Martian onto the ground.

She bowed for some strange reason, her eyes never leaving mine. "Until we met again, _Virago_." And suddenly with one swift kick into my chest, I went flying into the ground. I watched as the woman – Lamia – entered the helicopter with Sportsmaster behind her. As soon as they were in the air, it exploded, thanks to M'gann, and crashed into the factory, also causing it to explode.

"Are you alright Calypso?" I looked up to see Kaldur, holding out his hand to help me up yet again, causing me to smile. I can always count on him to help me off the ground.

"I'm okay." I reassured him as I took his hand. I thanked him as we regrouped with the rest of the team.

"Good, 'cause this mosquito's mighty _concerted_ over your pain." Robin flipped backwards, as we prepared to fight the oddly shirtless man in front of us. I recognized the man as Kobra and realized that I'd rather call him that than 'odd shirtless man.'

"Another time, then." Kobra walked backwards into the shadows and disappeared without a trace.

Robin smiled as he placed his hand on Aqualad's shoulder. "We picked the right guy to lead." I smiled as well, happy that for once, Robin wasn't being a sarcastic little brat. "Automatically making _you_ the right guy to explain this mess to Batman." He gestured to the burning factory as he burst into laughter. Nevermind, I retract my previous statement. Robin is _always_ a sarcastic, _annoying_ little brat.

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE  
** **JULY 23, 01:06 EDT**

"A simple recon mission, _observe and report_." Batman narrowed his eyes at Kaldur, who casted his eyes to the ground. "You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your _many_ mistakes. Until then, good job." I looked up at the Dark Knight in shock.

I exchanged looks with Kaldur, giving him a cheerful smile. He was so concerned and upset of what Batman was going to say and I kept trying to reassure him, telling him it was going to be okay. M'gann tried reassuring him as well, complimenting him on his leadership skills. And even Superboy joined in, telling him, "We wouldn't have gotten out of there if it wasn't for you."

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads determines character." I noticed Kaldur and Robin smile at each other – or at least I think Robin was smiling at him. For all I know, he could be staring at Batman. Or the wall. Or Wally's butt. Who knows with the Boy Wonder.


	5. Schooled

**Malone:** Aw thank you! As I've said before, I'm trying to make their relationship as real as possible.

 **I apologize for such a long hiatus – I graduated high school, moved houses, found a better paying job that doesn't involve retail and I'm starting college in the fall! Thank you all for 25 favorites and 32 follows. Please don't forget to leave any kind of feedback! Criticisms, questions, anything at all is very much appreciated. I will try to push out some more chapters in the next few weeks but I am travelling with my family before I start college in the fall, so a few may be delayed.**

* * *

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐹𝑜𝓊𝓇 – **Schooled**  
"Old friends pass away, new friends appear.  
It is just like the days.  
An old day passes, a new day arrives.  
The important thing is to make it meaningful:  
a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day."

 **MOUNT JUSTICE  
AUGUST 3, 12:19 EDT**

"Zoe, it's not like I don't want to tell you – I do, I really, _really_ do but… I just can't." I said for what seemed like the millionth time to my best friend over the phone.

She scoffed and I could practically hear her rolling her eyes, not believing my excuse. "Calypso, you've ignored my calls and texts for almost _two weeks!_ "

"No I didn't!" I protested, pinching the bridge of my nose in annoyance. "I told you that I had something important come up."

"What's more important than hanging out with your _supposed_ best friend?" Zoe snapped, causing me to frown. I didn't mean to make her upset or make her feel like I didn't care about her. I was just so caught up with being a part of the Team I forgot about the original first team – me and Zoe.

I ran my fingers through my hair, sighing as I did. "Zoe, I love you, you _know_ I do. When have I ever lied to you?"

She was silent for a few moments before responding, "Only once. You missed school for almost a week and said something stupid like, 'Oh, I'm hanging out with Santa at Disneyland,' but you were actually really sick with strep throat and lied to me to keep me from coming over and getting sick…"

"See? I've only ever lied to you to keep you safe." I replied. "And now I have to do the same thing again so you'll have to trust me."

"Can you at least tell me where you are? You're not doing drugs or causing crime, right?"

I'm actually stopping people from doing that but I can't tell Zoe that. "I'm living with a couple of new friends – who are not… uh… what's the word um… people with… _yagmul jungdog_ -"

"Druggies?"

"Is that what they're called? Well, look, _I promise_ , I'm perfectly okay. Just please trust me and don't worry."

Zoe let out a very unhumorous laugh. "Don't worry? _DON'T WORRY?_ It's a little too late for that now, don't'cha think?"

I felt even more guilty. I wish I could just tell her what was going on but there were rules to this whole hero gig and telling non-hero civilians like your family and friends was rule number one. If I told her the truth I would have to worry about those people Vixen was talking about and more. They could use her as leverage to get to me and I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to my best friend – well, at this point she's more like my sister than anything.

"I'm sorry," I said sheepishly. "I really am sorry but you're just going to have to trust me. _Jehbal_ …"

She sighed and was silent for a few moments. "I trust you Caly. As long as you're safe and okay, I'll _try_ not to worry anymore. Just promise to call and text me all the time – like ten times more than usual."

I laughed. "I promise." Suddenly, there was a knock at my door and I heard the cheerful voice of M'gann asking if she could come in. "I gotta go Zoe."

"Alright Caly… just text me later okay?"

"I swear I will. Bye Zoe." I removed the phone from my ear and pressed the red button.

After I placed it on my nightstand, I went to my bedroom door and opened it. M'gann smiled happily at me, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Hi Calypso!" she greeted. "How are you?"

I tried to return the cheery smile. "I've been better M'gann."

She tilted her head in confusion. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Ever since I joined the team I've been ignoring my best friend but I don't mean to! It's just when we get back from missions, I eat and pass out and…" I felt the tears well up in my eyes. "I just feel so bad for doing that to her…"

The Martian pulled me into a hug as I tried to push back the tears. I sniffled into her shoulder before she pulled away. She gave me a reassuring smile, squeezing my shoulders. "I have tons of siblings back on Mars so I'm used to doing this."

I chuckled. "Thanks, M'gann." I wiped away a few stray tears. "Where is Superboy and Kaldur?"

"I think Superboy is still in Metropolis and Kaldur is in the library." She answered. "I was gonna come ask you if you wanted to… um… cook with me." I saw her smile disappear, like she was embarrassed to ask me.

"Cook? Sounds awesome." Immediately, her smile reappeared. "I'm not the best at it but-"

She grabbed my hands and spun me around in a circle excitedly. She was jumping up and down happily which made me smile. "This is going to be so much fun!"

We walked happily into the kitchen and M'gann levitated a few cookbooks from the couch onto the counter. She flipped through the pages of a pastry book and turned towards me. "What do you think Superboy would like?" suddenly her face turned pink and I held back my giggle. Her crush on the clone was _very_ obvious. "A-a-and of course Kaldur as well."

I tapped my chin in thought as I looked through a few recipes. "Um… I'm not sure what the culinary culture is like in Atlantis but maybe… cinnamon rolls." I pointed to said recipe.

"Cinnamon rolls?"

I nodded. "Yup. I've had them a few times when Mari took me to the mall…" I noticed another look of confusion go across the Martian's face. "Y'know what, how about we save baking for another day and I'll take you to your first Earth mall?"

Her eyes widened. " _Really?!_ "

"Of course! I have some money from babysitting jobs which isn't a lot…"

"Oh, don't worry about that." M'gann pulled out a small piece of plastic from her pocket. "My uncle J'onn gave me this for when I wanted to 'blend in' with the people of Earth."

"Blend in?" I asked, raising my eyebrow in confusion.

She hummed in response before spinning around and her green skin turned… well… Caucasian. She looked like a normal teenage girl – well I mean _she is_ normal expect for the fact that she's a Martian but she looked like she was from the Earth.

I looked at her in amazement. "You are the coolest person I've ever met."

She smiled, thanking me as she did. I motioned her to follow me into my room where I grabbed my bag and put M'gann's credit card from her uncle into my wallet. I slipped on my plain grey sweater and worn black sneakers and left for the Zeta tubes. M'gann noted that we need to get decorations for my room or make it look less plain-y.

"So where are we going?" M'gann questioned as the tubes announced our names and we were enveloped in a bright light.

I winced, still trying to get used to the whole Zeta travel thing. "Well I was going to take you to a mall in Detroit but… since this'll be your first mall, I want this experience to be special."

This Zeta tube entrance – or exit – was the same as the one in Detroit, disguised as a telephone box. I closed it behind us before turning to the Martian, "I've never been here before so this'll be fun for both of us."

She giggled, clapping her hands excitedly. "This is going to be so much fun!"

I laughed. "Definitely. You ready?"

It took about twenty-five or so minutes to navigate through Bloomington but once I saw the giant outline of the building, I knew we were on the right track. I told M'gann to close her eyes and lead her to edge of the parking lot of some hotel that had an amazing view of the mall.

"Miss Martian of Mars, welcome to…" I uncovered her eyes, "the Mall of America!"

Her jaw immediately dropped as her eyes scanned the _gigantic_ mall. " _This_ is an Earth mall?! This is unbelievable!"

"This is actually the biggest mall in all of the United States – I think."

Suddenly, she grabbed my hand. "C'mon! Let's go!" without any hesitation, she started rushing to the mall with me in tow. I was so happy that she was excited and I couldn't wait to explore the mall with her. She honestly feels like the sister I've always wanted.

As soon as we entered the mall, not only was M'gann in shock but so was I. I've never seen anything like this in Korea or in Detroit. I wondered how much money was on that credit card because I might let my little kid instincts run wild.

"Where to first?"

" _Everywhere_."

"American Eagle? Banana Republic? What kinds of stores are those?"

"Clothing stores actually. I asked the same thing when I first came to the mall in Detroit. Did you want to go into one of them?"

"…There's no eagles or bananas in there, right?"

"Right."

As we were nearing the entrance of American Eagle, M'gann stared in, watching dreamily at a group of girls with their boyfriends. They were pointing to different clothes, probably asking if they could buy them. I poked her shoulder, trying to get her out of her trance and rolled my eyes. There was no doubt in my mind she was thinking of Superboy.

I grabbed her hand, "C'mon Megan~"

"Huh…? Oh! Was I daydreaming?" her chucks flushed a bright pink and I giggled. "Sorry…"

"It's okay, we all daydream." I pulled her into the store and explained that it was kind of expensive. I wasn't sure how much J'onn put on that card but I'm sure if he saw that there was two-hundred dollars missing just from one store, he'd be pretty angry.

"So," I started looking through their soft sweaters, "what do you think of the team?"

M'gann pulled out a pink ruffled tank top and held it up to her. "Robin and Kaldur are really nice. Kid Flash is… a little annoying."

I raised my eyebrow, a small smirk appearing on my lips. "And Superboy?"

She blushed. "Is it _that_ obvious?"

"A little bit but don't worry, I'll keep it a secret." I whispered, causing her to smile. I looked at the tank top she picked up. "You should go try it on," I gestured to the fitting rooms in the back of the store. She agreed and picked up the pink and purple one before going into the room.

I gasped as I saw a pair of skinny jeans in my size. I was about to pick them up and try them on myself, but once I saw the price, I left them alone.

 _Buuuzzzz!_ _Buuuzzzz!_

Grabbing my phone from my back pocket, I pressed the green button, forgetting to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Calypso, it is me Kaldur. Where are you and M'gann?" The Atlantean questioned. I questioned myself how he got my number but I shrugged it off.

"We're in the Mall of America. I wanted to take M'gann to her first Earth mall. We were gonna bring you and Superboy back something." I explained.

He chuckled. "That is very thoughtful of you, thank you." I smiled. "However, we need you and M'gann back at the Cave."

"Alright we'll be there in fifteen minutes or so. And Kaldur?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever had a cinnamon roll before?"

There a few seconds of silence before he responded. "No, I have not. Why do you ask Calypso?"

"No reason, o' fearless leader." I grinned, knowing exactly what to get him before we left. "We'll see you soon Kal."

"Goodbye Calypso." After I hung up, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and walked towards the fitting rooms.

I gently knocked on the door. "Hey Megan?"

She opened the door, sporting the pink tank top that fit very well. "What do you think?"

"I love it, you look amazing in pink." I complimented. "You should get it."

Her eyes lit up in happiness. "Really? You think so?"

I nodded. "I know so, also…" I leaned into her ear, whispering as low as possible, "Kaldur needs us back at the Cave so we've gotta cut our mall trip short."

She frowned. "Oh… okay…"

"Don't worry," I grabbed her hands, giving her a cheerful smile, "we'll be back another day. I promise."

M'gann gave me a small hug before returning to the fitting room. After a few moments, she came out in her normal clothes with the tank top in her hand. She paid for the top and as we were walking out of the store, I linked my arm with hers.

"Before we leave and the main reason why we're here," I looked at the directory, using my finger to look through the list of stores before finding the precious bakery, "this way."

"Hey Calypso?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you for this today." She said. "I know we didn't get to do much but it was really fun. You're a great teammate and an even better sister."

A huge smile appeared on my face. "Trust me, whenever we come back, we'll have even more fun _sis_."

I really did think of M'gann as a sister. I never knew my actual sister that well. All I remember of her was that she and my brother were geniuses and my parents were much prouder of them than me. I hope that if I met them again one day that they won't be as terrible as my parents.

"Calypso what was Korea like?" the Martian asked as we passed yet another set of escalators.

"Hmm…" I tapped my chin in thought, "I don't remember much since the last time I was there, I was a kid but what I do remember was how great the food was." Miss Martian burst into laughter from my response. "What? It's true. The street food was especially good. I also remember a lot of my parents scolding me for not being more respectful."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, here in America, there is no formal language when speaking to someone older or higher than you. In Korea, it's all about respect to your elders." I explained to her. "At the time, I was learning Korean and English since we lived in Detroit. It was very… difficult for me to understand both."

"How did you learn English?"

"Mari. She adopted me from my… uh… what's the word… I don't remember the word but my family wasn't a… _working_ family if that makes any sense."

"They didn't have jobs?"

I shoke my head. "No no no, they did but my family wasn't really… right. Like we all didn't work right together."

Her mouth formed an 'o' in realization. "You mean dysfunctional?"

"Yes! That's the word. Thank you." I replied. "Anyway, Mari put me into online school so kids wouldn't make fun of me for not knowing English. She taught me English as well by using flash cards, TV shows, she put me in a few speech classes and our trainer Luke helped me as well. Once I got into the 7th grade, Mari transferred me into the same middle school my best friend was at and I'm getting better at it every day."

She patted my shoulder. "I never knew you learned Korean before English. You should like a native speaker already."

I grinned. "Thanks, M'gann. That means a lot." I looked beside us to see that we were passing Build-A-Bear and Lush, meaning that heaven would be right around the corner. "Miss Martian of Mars, welcome to your final destination," I stood in front of the store, my arms widening for dramatic effect, "Cinnabon!"

The Martian hung her mouth open in amazement. "It smells incredible."

"It smells like heaven." I grabbed her hand again, gesturing to the large line. It was lunch time after all so it was no surprise that it would be packed. "Let's get in line."

She read off all the items on the menu above us and I was practically drooling at the sight and smell of the golden, delicious cinnamon rolls. I pulled out my wallet, seeing how much cash I had.

M'gann closed my wallet, grabbing the card her uncle gave her, "Oh no, I'm paying."

"But-" I tried to protest but she shoke her head.

"No buts Caly." She replied. "It'll be my treat." I realized that there was no point in arguing with her. I smiled, thanking her.

"Hi welcome to Cinnabon. What would you like?" the lady at the counter questioned in a monotone voice. I could tell she was already tired even though the mall had been open for less than 3 hours.

The redhead pointed to the tasty treats in the see-through container in front of us. "Six cinnamon rolls please."

The lady raised her eyebrow. "Six?"

We nodded. "Yes ma'am."

After a few moments of her pressing buttons on the cash register, she said, "Twenty-five fifty-nine."

M'gann stared at the card reader machine thingy in front of her, not sure what to do. _'Uh how do you do this?'_

I took the card from her, giving a small awkward smile towards the annoyed lady. I swiped the card and it asked for a pin number. _'Did your uncle tell you the pin number for the card?'_

' _I think so… I can't remember… Wait! Try 1980!'_

I press the pin number and the device blinks in green: TRANSACTION ACCEPTED. The cashier presses a few buttons on her register before giving us the receipt. "Your order number is three-twenty-six."

"Thank you," both M'gann and I smile towards her.

She returns it. "You're welcome." As soon as her eyes met the next customer, it fades. "Hi, how can I help you?"

I grab a few napkins and sit down in the vacant seat next to the counter. I could smell the sweet cinnamon and the delicious doughy buns. My mouth was practically watering at the sight of the freshly made cinnamon buns.

I watch as the guy who made the amazing treats put them into six separate boxes. I should've asked M'gann to get more but if I ate any more than one, it wouldn't be good for my weight.

She gave me a questioning look, glancing over at me. I guessed she had read my last thought. I waved my hands in dismissal. _'This is a conversation for another time.'_

' _But-'_

"Order three-twenty-six!"

I walked up to the counter, taking the three bags of heavenly deliciousness. I thanked him, returning to M'gann, who was now standing, and it was clearly evident that she wanted to talk.

' _M'gann, please, I really don't want to have this conversation with you. It's nothing against you, I swear – I just…'_ I shoke my head, taking a deep breath, _'I don't want to talk about it, okay?'_

She frowned and nodded, avoiding my gaze. _'Right… sorry…'_

I felt bad for snapping at M'gann like that but if I started talking about my weight it would lead to talking about my self-consciousness and insecurities and… that's not something I want to talk about with anyone, not even myself.

It was a silent walk back to the secret Zeta tube entrance, which made me feel even worse about what I said to M'gann. I tried coming up with what to say to her as we reached the abandoned telephone box.

"Hey," I turned to her as I opened the door, "I'm really sorry for… y'know… earlier…" I scratched the back of my head, "My weight is just… something I don't wanna talk about and I didn't mean to sound mean or anything like that…"

"No, I'm sorry Caly. I shouldn't have read your mind in the first place – I'm just used to how things are on Mars…" I could tell from her expression that she was thinking about what happened with Superboy. I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her a bright smile. "Still friends, right?"

"Sisters," I corrected her before entering the Zeta Tube.

" _Recognized, Virago, B-06, Miss Martian, B-05."_

As soon as we walked in, the three boys greeted us. It was only Kaldur, Kid Flash and Robin so Superboy must still be in Metropolis.

"We've got a little present for you guys!" M'gann announced as she held up the bags of Cinnabon. A look of excitement and happiness spread across the speedster's face before he rushed to us in the fastest speed I've seen – well from at least.

His mouth was practically a waterfall, "I-is that what I think it is? A perfectly delicious cinnamon roll from my two _faaavorite_ girls?"

Both M'gann and I shared a look, raising our eyebrows. _'Do we have to give him one?'_ I questioned as he started reaching for the bag.

' _Unfortunately, yes. We bought one for everyone.'_ M'gann pulled one of the boxes and handed it to Wally. "Here ya go."

I pulled out a box and handed it to Robin, who thanked me. He stood next to Wally who had already devoured his pasty treat and was asking M'gann for the last one.

I grabbed the last two and handed one to Kaldur. "Is this what you meant earlier?" he asked and I nodded, opening my box. He did the same, smiling, "This smells amazing… what is this again?"

"A cinnamon roll."

He tried lifting it up but I noticed that the icing began sticking to his fingers, causing me to giggle. I poked his shoulder, "Here, watch me Kal." I tore a piece from the pastry and popped it into my mouth. He did the same and he hummed in delight.

"This reminds me of something my mother made." He said, taking a huge piece from the cinnamon roll.

"Really?" I licked the icing from my fingers. "I've always wondered what the food was like in Atlantis."

"It is very good. When I go to visit soon, you should come with me."

My eyes widened as a blush rose to my cheeks. Did he just invite me to come to Atlantis? But we're just friends, aren't we?

I shoke my head at the thought. It's incredibly fine to invite friends to your home town – well water capital in Kaldur's case.

"Calypso? Would that be alright?" the Atlantean's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

" _Aish_ … what'd you say?"

"If you do not mind going with me to Atlantis, would you like to meet my two best friends?"

I nodded – a bit too enthusiastically – and licked the frosting from my lips. "I would love to." I didn't realize that my heartbeat was thumping faster than normal and the room felt a lot warmer.

"Yoohoo? Earth to Calypso?" Kid Flash was waving his hand in front of my face before reaching to poke my cheek.

I gently slapped it away, rolling my eyes. "Yes Wally?"

"I'm challenging you to a game of air hockey." He said, gesturing to the holographic hockey table in the middle of the room.

"Why me?" I question, raising my eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Eh, I wanna get beating you and Megalicious out of the way first, since it'll be _sooo_ easy."

"Pfft. Easy?" I cracked my knuckles, approaching the table. "Bring it on, ginger."

Wally placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt before placing his hand on the holographic pusher. I did the same. It felt a little weird knowing that this was all holographic, not of it was real – well, it was but not physically.

Robin pressed a few buttons and a screen with a score counter appeared along with a start and end button. "Ready?" he looked between the speedster and I and we both nodded. "Go!" he pressed the start button and the puck appeared in the middle of the table.

Before I could even realize what was going on, Kid Flash used his super speed to push the puck into the goal and gained a point. He began to dance around as the table dinged and his score changed to 1.

"If that's how you're gonna do it…" I touched my Devatma totem, thinking of the fastest animal I could – a cheetah.

His eyes widened, "Hey, hey, hey, that's cheat-"

He was cut off by a ding and the score changed to 1:1 and I smirked. His eyes narrowed at me as his hands curled around the pusher.

And just like that, I realized how competitive I became over a game of air hockey. Robin bet money that KF was going to win while M'gann was cheering me on.

"Aw babe, c'mon, why aren't you cheering for me?" Kid Flash pouted, giving the Martian the puppy dog eyes.

"Because I know Caly will win." She said triumphally.

I grinned. " _Gomawa_."

Suddenly, it became 9:9. Whoever scores the next point wins. I was watching KF's every move, making sure that he wouldn't cheat on me again. The puck reappeared in the middle and I waited for him to make his move.

"What'cha waiting for Calypso?" he taunted. "Go for it."

I raised my eyebrow. What is he planning? " _Aniyo_ , age before beauty."

"Age? I'm younger than you-"

The table began making victory beeps and whirs, signifying that I, Calypso Lea Callaghan, won the game. I placed the pusher down and made finger gun gestures towards the speedster. " _Soooo easy_ , right Wally?"

He crossed his arms, grumbling, "whatever… I could've beaten you. I was just going easy on you 'cause you're a girl."

I rolled my eyes before the computer announced Superboy's arrival. I completely forgot that he was in Metropolis today.

"Hi, Superboy." Miss Martian greeted happily, smiling at the clone. "How was Metropolis?"

He said nothing in response as he walked through the holographic hockey table and it disappeared. I exchanged looks with her and the rest of my team, "I'm guessing it didn't go well…"

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat, "Ready for training everyone?" the five of us turned to see Black Canary and Martian Manhunter walking towards us.

"Black Canary and Uncle J'onn!" M'gann exclaimed before rushing towards her uncle, throwing her arms around him.

"M'gann," he placed his hand on her shoulder, "I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd see how you are adjusting."

"A few bumps," she admitted, "but I'm learning."

He smiled. "That's all I can ask."

"Stick around." Canary called out to Superboy, who was walking away. He turned around, an angry look on his face, and crossed his arms. I was expecting him to leave the room, but he stayed, waiting for what Black Canary was going to say.

She walked on the platform, it glowing when she reached the middle, and turned towards us. "I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you - everything I've learned from my own mentors-" she tugged off her jacket with a wince, revealing the bandages that were wrapped around the upper part of her arm, "and my own bruises."

M'gann gasped, "what happened?"

"The job." She answered, tossing her jacket to the side. "Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should _always_ be acting, _never_ reacting. I'll need a sparring partner."

Kid Flash raised his hand a little too eagerly. "Right here." I rolled my eyes, face palming. "After this – _swish_ ," he finished his banana and threw it into the garbage bin, "I'll show you _my moves_."

I looked up at Kaldur. "He can't be serious right?" I whispered to him. "She's twice his age!"

He nodded. "Unfortunately, yes but this is Wally we are talking about."

"True."

Black Canary isn't weirded out by Wally's flirting – almost _everyone_ is – and smirks, narrowing her eyes. She throws a punch the ginger's way, which he dodges. She quickly ducks down and kicks his feet out from under him, who lands on the floor with a thud.

'KID FLASH STATUS: FAIL' appeared next to Wally's head, who groaned in pain, "Hurts… so good…"

"Good block," Canary commented, holding out her hand for the speedster, helping him off the ground, "but did anyone see what he did wrong?"

"Oh!" Robin perked up, raising his hand. "He hit on teacher and got served?" I snickered, he did have a point.

" _Dude!_ "

She ignored what the Boy Wonder said, "He allowed me to dictate the terms of-"

"Oh, please." Superboy interrupted, not happy with Canary's statement. "With my powers, the battle is always on _my_ terms. And this is a _waste_ of my time."

"Prove it." She smirked, not fazed by his words, she turned towards the clone as he stepped towards her.

I was instantly reminded of Mari, how she would challenge people who underestimated her – and won, almost every time. I didn't see it as cockiness or even arrogance, I always saw it as power and confidence, something I would love for her to have passed down to me. I reminded myself that after today, I would go visit her. She had finally cooled down after our huge argument, but I didn't want to move back in with her in Detroit. I loved living at the Cave – it gave me my first taste of freedom and I was with my new friends. Every time I tried bringing up why she didn't want me joining the team, she got quiet and told me not to bring up an already ended conversation.

Kid Flash stepped away from the two before Superboy lunged his fist towards Canary. She grabbed it with ease and swung him onto the ground.

I looked at the hero in shock. She just tossed him like it was _nothing_. It looked like she didn't even break a sweat either or injure her arm. How she did that, I have no idea… but I really want to know. Her strength is _incredible_ – I can't even do that by myself, I'd have to use the powers of the Devatma totem.

Robin burst out into laughter, pointing at the clone, who had 'SUPERBOY STATUS: FAIL' next to his head. Kaldur elbowed the younger Bat, who covered his mouth, stifling his laugh.

"So mature…" I commented, glaring at the Boy Wonder.

Superboy was _pissed_. Although, if I was getting laughed at by my teammates after being thrown down by a lady who I thought was weaker than me, I'd be pissed too.

"You're angry, good, but don't react." Black Canary said. "Channel that anger into-"

The clone let out a thundering cry of anger before charging as fast as he could towards Canary. She flipped over him, which he was not expecting and kicked his feet off the ground, like she did to KF earlier.

Robin laughed again, this time covering his mouth as the rest of us winced. Poor Superboy, today was not his day.

Canary held out her hand for the clone, who pushed her hand away harshly, standing on his own. " _I'm done!_ "

"Training is mandatory," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged off her hand again before facing her. Just from looking at his intense gaze, I could tell Supes had some very _not pleasant_ things to say to Canary.

Thankfully, a holographic screen interrupted before anything could happen. It was the Dark Knight, hopefully here to give us a mission. "Batman to the cave," all of us approached the screen, "five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary." Another smaller screen appeared next to Batman showing what I think is a robot, with red eyes and strange pointy ears. "The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents." The screen showed the robot swinging around Superman like he was nothing before the video paused. "Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."

I exchanged looks with Wally, who had the same expression I did. "Woah," he murmured, "one guy with the powers of the entire League?"

"That's really not good." I said and Kaldur nodded in agreement.

Batman continued, "In the end, it took nine leaguers _four_ hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"An android?" Robin repeated. "Who made it, T.O. Morrow?"

"Good guess Robin." His mentor said. "But Red Tornado doesn't think so."

"The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo." Martian Manhunter mentioned. I rubbed my head, trying to remember who Morrow or Ivo were. Thanks to being so late to the hero game, I didn't have much of a class on recognizing villains. The ones I remember most are the ones Mari fought – without me of course – and on TV like the Joker or Bane. I was just going to smile and nod, like I knew _exactly_ who everyone was talking about.

" _Ivo was er- is a mad scientist, obsessed with immortality and incredible robot technician."_ Miss Martian explained to me and I sent her a smile.

" _Thanks M'gann."_

I noticed Kaldur's eyes widened at what the Martian said. "Ivo? But Ivo's dead."

Black Canary looked over her shoulder to meet his gaze, "So we all thought… or hoped."

"To make certain this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate S.T.A.R. lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation." Batman said as a map appeared on the screen. "Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo or anyone tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

"Yes!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "Road trip!" I smiled, happy as well that we were _finally_ given another mission.

However, Superboy was not as happy as Kid Flash and I were. "So now we take out your trash." He growled in annoyance.

Batman raised his eyebrow at the clone. "You had something _better_ to do?" He didn't respond and looked away from the screen.

Suddenly a beeping sound came from a device in Kaldur's hand. "Coordinates received." He announced. "On our way."

* * *

 **LITCHFIELD COUNTY  
AUGUST 3, 20:08 EDT**

Thanks to Batman, each of us had cliché leather biking outfits with our new motorcycles. I've never ridden a motorcycle before but according to Robin, it was just like riding a bike. He instructed how everything worked, saying numerous times which one was the brake and I nodded.

"Just make sure not to crash alright?" the Boy Wonder joked, and I glared at him.

"Thanks. I'll _totally_ do that."

I noticed that Batman gave the signal for the trucks and the team. I placed my helmet over my head, making sure everything was secure just in case if I do crash… hopefully Robin didn't jinx it.

Swallowing the fear I had, I placed both of my hands on the handles and followed after Robin and Superboy, while Kaldur, M'gann, and Wally followed after the other set of trucks.

After the first couple miles, I was getting used to bike slowly. Sometimes I would turn too sharply and almost fall off my bike, but I learned not to lean all of my body weight to the side I was turning.

After a while it became easy and surprisingly calm. To me, this was much easier than driving a car. Even though I already had my permit for driving a car, I was considering of getting one for a motorcycle as well. Mari would probably kill me though, saying that it'd be 'too dangerous.'

The Boy Wonder broke the silence as he drove up beside Superboy, "If dislike is the opposite of like, Is disaster the opposite of _aster_? See, instead of things going wrong, they go right." I shoke my head with a chuckle, yet again he has made up another word. "Uh, clearly you're _not_ feeling the aster." He looked over at Superboy, who was focused on the road. "What's wrong?"

"Canary." Superboy glowered. "And what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?"

"Well… super strength doesn't mean you can down everything and everyone." I said. "You have to know how to use it."

Robin nodded. "Besides taking down stronger guys is part of the gig. Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman and, well, me."

The clone glared at the two of us. "Says the two who don't _actually_ have super powers." He speed off closer to the truck, leaving Robin and I behind him.

"I guess a magical totem doesn't count." I said, holding back some very rude insults.

"Apparently not." The Boy Wonder replied.

I turned my gaze back towards the road when I noticed a couple of strange shadows fly over us. I looked up to see… _what the hell?_

"Are those… monkeys?!"

Several disturbingly sounding robot monkeys attached themselves to the truck in front of us. They looked back and began laughing, like they were mocking us.

"Virago, Robin, Superboy!" Aqualad exclaimed through the comms. "Our truck is under attack!"

"Kinda figured," Robin retorts as we speed up next to Superboy, who looks even angrier than he did earlier – if that was even possible.

"I _hate_ monkeys."

Suddenly, the truck began swerving between the lanes, leaving skid marks on the road.

"Robot monkeys!" the younger Bat laughed for some reason, not sure why he thought the situation was funny. "Totally Ivo's tweaked style. Hey, guys switch your ride to battle mode."

I followed his actions, tapping the middle screen on my bike. A part of my bike shot out and transformed into a drone, flying up besides Robin's.

"No point." Instead of listening to Robin, Superboy launched himself off his bike and landed on the truck.

Quickly I touched my Devatma totem, thinking of any animal that could fly, and grabbed Robin just before the clone's bike crashed into ours. I flew up the truck and let go of Robin as he latched to the vehicle.

I grabbed two of the bots and threw them to ground, watching them break as they hit the pavement. Suddenly, one of them grabbed my leg and I tried shaking it off.

" _Kkeojyeo!_ " I threw off the monkey and the drone from my bike used its laser to disintegrate it. I noticed more robots flying towards us, a couple of them taking down Robin's drone.

I pulled myself onto the roof of the truck and realized Superboy really needed our help. I touched my totem again, the heightened senses and speed of the panther surged through me. I grabbed the tail of one of the bots and slammed it down into another, both exploding.

" _ARGH!_ " I whipped my head around at the sound of Superboy's cry, who was being lifted in the air by the monkeys, then dropped onto the road.

"Super- ah!" I was shoved to the ground by more of the creepy bots, who kept laughing. I was beginning to see why Supes hated monkeys. This was getting annoying.

Grabbing the two that were holding down my arms, I threw them off the truck and they crashed into the cornfield. Quickly, I stood up, taking out my bō staff swung it into a herd of bots trying to laser their way into the roof off the truck.

Then out of nowhere, more monkeys flew onto the truck, continuing to break in. Robin flipped onto the vehicle and pulled out his escrima sticks, taking out several more monkeys. I kicked a few more off, but no matter how many the two of us took out, more bots came.

"There's too many!" I exclaimed looking at the Boy Wonder.

Thankfully, Superboy joined us, jumping onto the truck, sending more off the truck but more came back, attaching themselves to the clone.

"What do we-" I was cut off by a sudden explosion below the truck, causing the truck to swerve. The monkeys must've taken out the tires. Robin and I exchanged looks before rushing to front of the truck.

" _GET OUT!_ " Robin yelled to the driver as I opened the passenger door, grabbing two of the guards, while my teammate grabbed the driver. I hopped off the truck, tumbling into the cornfield.

I groaned, rubbing the side of my head. I looked to the guard I rescued who was unconscious. I brought him to the road, gently setting him down and looked for any injuries.

Looking across the road, I saw the younger Bat doing the same. I glanced over at the truck, noticing the giant hole – the monkeys stole everything. It suddenly flipped over, revealing a not-so crushed Superboy, who roared in anger and began to follow the monkeys.

"Superboy!" Robin called out to him. I went to touch my Devatma totem, ready to fly after them but he shoke his head.

"Aqualad to Virago, we've lost our cargo. Did you-"

I sighed. "Yeah, we did too."

Robin added, "And we _lost_ our teammate."

"Aqualad to Superboy, radio your position." Kaldur instructed. I hope his calm voice would get to the clone. "We'll help you."

"I don't _need_ help!" Superboy fumed, causing me to wince at how loud he was. "Don't want any!"

Aqualad tried calling his name again through the comm but there was no response.

"I think he ditched his comm." Robin pointed out.

"Super~" the speedster said sarcastically. "Now we can't even track him."

"He's out of my telepathic range." M'gann added. "This professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe we should contact Red Tornado?"

"Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves. And the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they're reassembled." Kaldur responded.

I nodded, agreeing with the Atlantean, even though he couldn't see me. "Exactly, I know we can do it. We don't need Red Tornado's help."

"Oh yeah, great enthusiasm V," commented Kid Flash, with more sarcasm than before, "and that's a great plan Kal, except for the part about us not knowing _where to look!_ "

Robin looked down the deactivated, broken monkeys in front of us and I picked one up. "Maybe we do," he pulled out a cord from his gloves and hooked into the back of the bot. "We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked. So how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?" a holographic screen appeared from his glove, revealing a map. "Ha! The parts have GPS. The monkeys can track the signal, which means _I_ can track them with the one we captured. It looks both sets of parts are converging on… Gotham city."

"That _far_ south? M'gann and I won't get there anytime soon." Aqualad said. "I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you two. Aqualad out."

"Definitely a disaster," the Boy Wonder breathed out, "heavy on the _dis_." For once, I agreed with the younger Bat. This was a _major disaster_.

* * *

Robin and I were reaching Gotham City limits when Kid Flash finally caught up with us.

"So you changed, too?" the Bat observed, referring to the speedster's uniform. Before Robin and I left, we had taken off the hot and sweaty leather outfits, changing into our uniforms, using the cornfield as cover.

"You kidding?" the ginger shuddered. "I feel naked in civvies. How ya holding up V?"

"Eh," I shrugged. "I've been better. You?"

He flashed me a flirtatious smile and winked. "Better now that I'm here with yo- ow!" I reached over from my bike and smacked his head. "Y'know you're supposed to keep both hands on the handles…"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll just use by bō next time."

Kid Flash seemed to ignore my threat and move closer to Robin. "You still tracking the parts?"

"They were heading through Gotham, but they veered." He looked down at the map on his bike. "Wait… dude, they're at my sch- I mean, they're at Gotham Academy!"

I raised my eyebrow at the Boy Wonder. Kid Flash gave a sheepish smile. He knew who Robin was without the mask, but I wonder why he was the only one.

When we reached Gotham Academy, the three of us looked around for where Superboy and the monkeys might be.

"Maybe we could check the-" a loud crash near the auditorium of the school answered our question. Kid Flash speed off into the doors of the gym, while Robin and I followed close behind.

As soon as we entered, I noticed Superboy getting his butt kicked by a tall android with pointy ears – Amazo.

The speedster slipped past the bot, grabbing Superboy with a, " _Yoink!_ " Robin threw a few Birdarangs at the android but since it had the powers of Martian Manhunter, it went straight through him, and exploded on the wall behind him.

"Access: Red Tornado," not so shockingly, a red tornado swirled around Amazo and headed towards us. I touched my totem, quickly thought of the flight and strength of the Griffin and wrapped one arm around Superboy's waist, the other around Robin's.

"This probably isn't a good idea…" before the android could get any closer I jumped up as far as I could, hauling the boys away from the tornados.

"Calypso!" I heard the speedster warn from below us. I felt the wind from the tornado pulling me back into the bot.

" _Mianhae!_ " using all the strength I could muster, I threw the boys away from Amazo, hopefully not hurting them, and dropped to the ground. I looked over to see the boys hiding behind the other set of bleachers.

Amazo turned his attention on the speedster. "Access: Captain Atom."

My eyes widened. "KF move!"

A bright yellow beam shot from the bot's hand, almost hitting the ginger. Luckily, he moved away in time and speed down to the other side of the bleachers. He ran to the bot to attack it, but it used a powerful Canary cry to send him flying across the gym.

"Superman." Amazo called out right before Superboy threw a punch his way. The droid caught it with ease and slammed its fist into the clone's face, throwing him right into the bleachers. I winced at the impact.

"Martian Manhunter." It used another Leaguer's power just as Robin threw Birdarangs his direction.

We can't even get a hit on this guy… he has all the powers of almost the entire League! If Vixen fought him, he wouldn't be able to mimic her powers – it comes from her totem just as mine does.

I heard the cry of pain from Kid Flash as he was being crushed by the android, bringing me out of my thoughts. I didn't have time to form a good plan or even think of the possibilities of what would happen if it didn't work or think of a plan B or C.

Suddenly, it called out the powers of Martian Manhunter just before something shot through him, making him release KF. Was that an arrow? Last time I checked, none of us were archers.

"Access: Black Canary." And there went Superboy again. "Superman." And KF and Robin. I was really getting tired of our team losing today.

I stood up and began running towards Amazo. He tried using the laser beams of Superman to take out my legs. I flew up into the air and dove to the bot, aiming to rip off his head. "Access: Martian Manhunter." I crashed face first into the ground. My face was going to feel this tomorrow.

"Captain Atom." I grabbed its arm, bending it upwards, causing the beam to cut out large pieces of the roof. "Superman." It used its other arm to toss me into the bleachers and snapped its other arm back into place. I groaned in pain, trying to turn over. I felt a couple bones pop and crack, making me hiss.

"Martian Manhunter." The rubble from the roof crashed down onto the floor, probably going right through the android.

"It makes me _angry!_ " Struggling to sit up, I watched Superboy launch himself over to who I assumed to be Professor Ivo. " _Wanna see me channel that anger?!_ "

He jumped out of the way, his robotic monkeys following, and exclaimed, "Amazo, protect your master! Priority alpha!" I chuckled at the so-called robotics genius – he seemed puny to me.

"Captain Atom." Another bright yellow beam shot from its arm, hitting Superboy. I stood up from the bleachers and jumped down.

"Anyone want to play keep-away?" Robin kicked the professor across the floor. KF excitedly raised his hand, rushing over to the technician. "Me! Me!"

"Access: Superman." It stomped on the floor and a shockwave rippled through across the ground, causing the speedster to fly into the bleachers.

I flew over Amazo, trying to reach the professor but it caught my foot. I tried wriggling out of its grasp but it kept squeezing my ankle.

"Martian Manhunter." I looked over my shoulder and Robin threw Birdarangs into the android, which went right through him. I flew out of his grasp before Superboy stood in front of Amazo and put his fist right through its head. "Superman-"

Suddenly sparks came from the android and it froze. I grabbed the clone's hand, pulling him away right as it exploded, its metal body crashing into the floor.

"Good job Supes." I patted his back, sending him a grin. I sat up, crossing my legs and stretching out my arms.

"Quick," Robin exclaimed, rushing to the deactivated bot, "help me disassemble him now!"

"Dude, the guy has _no_ head." The ginger pointed out, rubbing his shoulder.

"Don't take any chances!" Instantly, a smile appeared across my face hearing the voice of Kaldur. Both him, with M'gann flying right on his heels, rushed into the auditorium.

M'gann hurried to Superboy's side, helping him stand. "Superboy are you alright?"

"Fine." My eyes widened when I noticed him smile – that was strange for him. "Feeling the aster." Robin sent him a toothy grin and I chuckled.

"Calypso," Kaldur said, outstretching his hand. What was this, number four? I gladly took his hand, using his arm to steady myself. His other hand brushed my check, probably examining the bruises.

I gently swatted his hand away. "I'm okay, really." His eyebrow arched, as if he wasn't convinced.

"Hey, where's Ivo?" the speedster questioned. We all looked around the gym, looking for the professor or even his stupid robot monkeys, but he disappeared. At least we took down Amazo – he wasn't getting this back anytime soon.

* * *

 **MOUNT JUSTICE  
AUGUST 4, 01:16 EDT**

"The Amazo android is in pieces again, safely being analyzed at the two separate S.T.A.R. labs, but Ivo escaped." Aqualad reported to the four Leaguers in front of us. "And since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android."

I gave the Atlantean props for being so calm and collected at this time of night. I could barely keep my eyes open but I didn't want to seem like I was tired, so I stood tall and alert as possible.

"Capturing the professor will be a League priority." Black Canary promised with an affirmative nod.

Martian Manhunter crossed his arms, eyes focusing on Superboy. "But we understand your mission encountered _other_ complications."

I patted the clone's back. "It was no big." I gave him an encouraging smile.

"Nice KP reference." Kid Flash whispered as Batman approached us.

"Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League." The older Bat stated.

Superboy's eyebrow raised, "The _whole_ League?"

"Given time, yes." Batman said. "Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads." Another small smile appeared across the clone's face – that's two in one day, I'm shocked. "Of course, there's no shame in asking for help. That's why the League exists – because there are some problems even _we_ can't handle individually."

"Please." Robin snapped, glaring at his mentor. "If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask!" he pulled out the arrow from earlier that saved Kid Flash. "Look familiar? You were following us! _Babysitting!_ You still don't trust us!"

"We didn't follow you." Batman observed the arrow before giving it to Green Arrow who took out his own arrow showing that both were not the same.

Robin's eyes went wide. "Oh… that's not your arrow… but that means-!"

"Speedy!" Kid Flash exclaimed, grinning.

"He has our backs." Aqualad added. I looked at M'gann with a confused look and she had the same expression. Both of us shrugged – if he's important we'll find out eventually who is he.

The ginger raced towards the archer, grabbing Speedy's arrow from him. "Souvenir~"

* * *

 **DETROIT  
AUGUST 4, 08:31 EDT**

I used my key to unlock the door to our – well, now Mari's apartment. I locked the door behind me, taking off my shoes. "Hey, you awake?" I called out to her, noticing that she wasn't up yet. I walked over to her bedroom, gently knocking on the door. " _Hellooo?_ "

My mom was lying face down on her bed, tissues everywhere, and the fan blowing on high blast. I frowned. She must've gotten sick. I felt her forehead with back of my hand – she was burning up.

I rushed to the freezer, grabbing one of the many ice packs we had and slowly placed it on her forehead. She stirred and turned over to the fan.

Looking over to her nightstand, I saw the dozens of empty flu medicine bottles and boxes of Advil. I grabbed the only full bottle of Alka-Seltzer and filled up a tiny cup for her. "Take your medicine please. I'll make you something to eat."

She made a noise, that I guess was her agreeing with me. I went into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets to see what I could make for her. I'll use the meal that I make as a truce and hopefully it'll help her feel better.

I grabbed a box of pancake mix, checked the expiration date and placed it on the counter. Scanning the side of the mix, I looked through the fridge, putting the ingredients I needed on the counter. "Milk… eggs…" I read off, "what'll make them taste good?"

I looked through our cabinets again and picked out a tiny bottle of vanilla extract and cinnamon. "This should be good." I placed all the ingredients in a blue plastic bowl, sprinkling in the flavors I found. I dipped my finger into the mixture and tasted it. "Hmm… not too bad. M'gann would be proud."

After I placed the bowl on the counter, I grabbed one of the clean skillets from the dishwasher and placed it on the stove with some butter. I turned on Mari's sacred coffee maker, changing out the filter.

I walked into the living room, unplugging the CD player from the wall and brought it into the kitchen. Scanning through my mentor's vast collection of music, I picked up an album titled "From Me to You – 2009." There was a handwritten paper in the cover listing all the songs with a name at the bottom.

 _Enjoy Mari.  
\- Luke_

I gasped. No way. Luke had a thing for Mari – Mari had a thing for Luke? I shuddered thinking about it. Maybe this was just a friend thing. Yeah. Friends do that for each other.

I shoke my head, trying to push away the thoughts of my mom and trainer being together. I placed the disk in the CD player and pressed play.

Rhianna's Disturbia came through the speakers and I burst into laughter. This was one of Luke's and Mari's songs? I had no idea why, but it was a good song nonetheless.

I flicked water on the pan and it sizzled, signaling it was ready to make golden, delicious pancakes. I scooped a small amount onto the skillet, making it my test pancake. I wanted to make sure the temperature was right before making anymore.

I flipped the pancake after a few minutes and it was a perfect golden brown. "M'gann would definitely be proud of me. Good job, Caly." I patted myself on the back. "Now do twelve more perfect ones and-"

 _Knock! Knock! Knock!_

" _WAH!_ " I jumped, almost dropping the spatula. I held it close to me, noting it wasn't a good weapon but it was metal. I could do _some_ damage with this thing. I inched towards the door and looked into the peephole.

"Calypso?" it was Kaldur, dressed in his casual attire, covering his tattoos. "It's me-"

I swung open the door, pointing my weapon at the Atlantean. "You scared me half to death. What're you doing here?"

"I called you to ask if you wanted to train with us this morning." He answered. "M'gann said you we be home in Detroit."

"Oh," I pulled my phone out my pocket, confirming that he did call – a few times in fact. I blushed, feeling bad that I didn't answer. " _Mianhae_ … I just wanted to see how my mom was. Turns out she's sick."

"Is she alright?"

"Pfft, oh yeah. A little cold isn't going to get Mari. I'm making some food for her." I opened the door wider. "Would you… like to come in?"

Kaldur nodded. "I would love to." He stepped into the house and I stopped him before he began walking on the carpet. I gestured to the shoes near the door. "Apologies."

He followed me into the kitchen after he took off his shoes. "Are you cooking cinnamon rolls?"

"No, why?"

"They were very good yesterday." The Atlantean admitted. "I was hoping you would have more."

I giggled. "Nope, sorry Kal. Besides, no one makes cinnamon rolls like Cinnabon does. Even if I tried, it wouldn't compare to theirs."

" _I make them good girls go bad. I make them good girls go bad."_

Kaldur pointed at the CD player, "What kind of music is this?"

"Songs from two-thousand and nine." I said, placing another golden pancake on a plate and popped it into the microwave to stay warm.

"It does not sound like anything from Atlantis." He chuckled. "How does this compare to the music in Korea?"

I tapped my chin in thought. "Hmm… I don't really remember any music from Korea when I was kid and I don't really keep up with it today… I know that there was a lot of boy groups – girls would swoon over them."

"Boy groups?"

"Yup. They would sing, dance, have dazzling smiles. I think I remember my sister having a paper thingy… um… picture? No that's not it…"

Kaldur began suggesting words, "Portrait? Sign? Painting?"

I shoke my head. "No. It was like a big picture on a wall. Billboard? No that's _way_ too big." I noticed that one of my pancakes was in desperate need to be flipped over and thankfully it didn't burn.

"Poster." I jumped at the sound of my mom's voice – it was nasally, and I could tell she was congested. She grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured her steaming hot coffee into the cup. "Aqualad, right?"

The Atlantean nodded, holding out his hand politely. "Yes. It is an honor to meet you Vixen. I have heard stories about you from Aquaman."

"All good I hope." She teased with a wink. She opened up the microwave, noticing the stack of pancakes. "Did you make these?"

I nodded with a bright smile. " _Neh_." I scooped the last remaining pancake mix onto the pan, making a giant one.

Mari placed both plates onto the counter. "Kaldur, you're welcome to have some of these." He was going to object but she shoke her head. "I insist. Calypso always makes too much."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Pfft. You love the leftovers."

"I have never had these before – what are they called?"

"Pancakes. I put cinnamon and vanilla in there too."

"Will they taste like cinnamon rolls?"

I laughed, passing Mari the maple syrup from the fridge. "You'll just have to eat to find out. Everyone, _masikke deuseyo~_ "


End file.
